The city of San Diego paid $106 million in late 2020 for two hotels to house the homeless — $67 million for the 192-key Residence Inn Mission Valley and $39.5 million for the 144-key Kearny Mesa Residence Inn.
Hospitality Jobs
Since February 2020, the leisure-and-hospitality sector has shed nearly four million jobs, roughly a quarter of its workforce. As of January 2021, 15.9% of the industry’s workers remained unemployed; more than any other industry.
$15 Wage
A study of more than 5,000 hotels across the U.S. has found that 64% of the country’s hotel workers currently earn less than the Biden administration proposed new federal minimum wage of $15 an hour.
MAR Posts Loss
Marriott International Inc. ended 2020 with a loss of $267 million—its first annual loss since 2009—as the company absorbed the effects of the downturn in global travel during a pandemic that emptied most of its rooms last March and continues to sap demand.
Retail Sales
Shoppers boosted spending by 5.3% in January, the first increase in four months, buoyed by recent virus-related stimulus payments. The rise followed three consecutive months of declining sales during the 2020 holiday shopping season.
Lumber Prices
Lumber futures have climbed 47% over the past three weeks, to within a few dollars of records set in September. Lumber for March delivery ended trading Friday at $982.10 per thousand board feet, more than twice the price a year earlier.
Budget Deficit
The U.S. budget gap totaled a record $736 billion during the first four months of fiscal 2021, an 89% increase from a year earlier.
Napa Four Seasons
The 85-room Four Seasons Resort in Napa is expected to sell for $170 million, a near-record of $2 million per key. Demand for the adjoining 21 residences for sale was also strong and all units are in contract.
Consumer Expectations
Households’ expected level of spending a year from now surged to 4.2%, the best reading since June 2015 and predict their future incomes would rise by 2.4%, a 0.2 percentage point increase from the prior month and the highest reading since February 2020.
Minimum Wage
Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 could lift 900,000 Americans above the poverty threshold—but the policy would cost 1.4 million Americans their jobs over the next four years, according to a study released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget.