The US economy will have a recession, but not until 2022. More business cycles will result as a result of Federal Reserve policy, which many enterprises are unprepared for. The decline isn’t expected until 2022, but it might happen as soon as 2023. If the Fed manages to prevent a recession in 2023, expect a worsening depression in 2024 or 2025.
Is a recession expected in 2021?
Unfortunately, a worldwide economic recession in 2021 appears to be a foregone conclusion. The coronavirus has already wreaked havoc on businesses and economies around the world, and experts predict that the devastation will only get worse. Fortunately, there are methods to prepare for a downturn in the economy: live within your means.
What is the state of the economy in 2021?
“While Omicron will slow growth in the first quarter, activity is projected to pick up nicely once the newest pandemic wave has passed and supply-chain issues have been resolved,” said Sal Guatieri, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto.
“As it navigates underlying economic strength, rising labor shortages, and stubbornly high inflation, the Fed will need to remain ‘humble and flexible.'”
The economy increased at its fastest rate since 1984 in 2021, with the government providing roughly $6 trillion in epidemic relief. In 2020, it shrank by 3.4 percent, the most in 74 years.
President Joe Biden swiftly claimed credit for the outstanding performance, calling it “no accident.”
After Congress failed to approve his key $1.75 trillion Build Back Better legislation, Biden’s popularity is declining amid a stalled domestic economic plan.
In a statement, Biden said, “We are finally building an American economy for the twenty-first century, and I urge Congress to keep this momentum going by passing legislation to make America more competitive, strengthen our supply chains, strengthen our manufacturing and innovation, invest in our families and clean energy, and lower kitchen table costs.”
According to the government’s advance GDP estimate, gross domestic product increased at a 6.9% annualized pace in the fourth quarter. This follows a third-quarter growth rate of 2.3 percent.
However, by December, the impetus had dissipated due to an assault of COVID-19 infections, spurred by the Omicron variety, which contributed to lower expenditure and disruption at factories and service organizations. However, there are hints that infections have peaked, which could mean a surge in service demand by spring.
Inventory investment surged by $173.5 billion, accounting for 4.90 percentage points of GDP growth, the highest level since the third quarter of 2020. Since the first quarter of 2021, businesses have started reducing inventories.
During the epidemic, people’s spending shifted from services to products, putting a strain on supply systems. GDP rose at a sluggish 1.9 percent rate, excluding inventories.
On Wall Street, stocks were trading higher. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar rose. Treasury yields in the United States have fallen.
The minor increase in so-called final sales was interpreted by some economists as a sign that the economy was about to decline severely, especially if not all of the inventory accumulation was planned. They were also concerned that rate hikes and diminished government aid, particularly the elimination of the childcare tax credit, would dampen demand.
“Fed policymakers will have to tread carefully when raising interest rates,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS in New York. “Every other Federal Reserve in history has raised interest rates too high and brought the economy crashing back down.”
Last quarter’s growth was also boosted by a surge in consumer spending in October, before falling sharply as Omicron raged. Consumer expenditure, which accounts for more than two-thirds of GDP, increased by 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter after increasing by 2.0 percent in the previous quarter.
Increases in spending on healthcare, membership clubs, sports centers, parks, theaters, and museums balance a decline in purchases of motor vehicles, which are scarce due to a global semiconductor shortage.
Inflation rose at a 6.9% annual pace, the fastest since the second quarter of 1981, far beyond the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%. As a result, the amount of money available to households fell by 5.8%, limiting consumer expenditure.
Households were still buffered by large savings, which totaled $1.34 trillion. Wages increased by 8.9% before accounting for inflation, indicating that the labor market is experiencing a severe labor shortage, with 10.6 million job opportunities at the end of November.
Though the job market slowed in early January as Omicron rose, it is now at or near full employment. Initial jobless claims fell 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 260,000 in the week ending Jan. 22, according to a second Labor Department report released on Thursday.
Claims decreased dramatically in Illinois, Kentucky, Texas, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Last quarter’s GDP growth was aided by a resurgence in corporate equipment spending. Government spending, on the other hand, has decreased at the federal, state, and municipal levels.
After being a drag on GDP growth for five quarters, trade made no contribution, while homebuilding investment fell for the third quarter in a row. Expensive building materials are constraining the sector, resulting in a record backlog of homes yet to be built.
Despite the economy’s difficulties at the start of the year, most experts predict the good luck will continue. This year’s growth forecasts are at least 4%.
“This year, the economy could be even better,” said Scott Hoyt, a senior economist with Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “The economy will stagnate, and monthly employment increases will fall short of last year’s high levels. Nonetheless, by the end of the year, the economy should be close to full employment and inflation should be close to the Fed’s target.”
(Paragraph 7 was removed from this story because it contained incorrect information.)
Is a recession expected in 2023?
Rising oil prices and other consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Goldman Sachs, will cut US GDP this year, and the probability of a recession in 2023 has increased to 20% to 30%.
What should I do to prepare for a Depression in 2021?
We’ve talked about how individuals survived the Great Depression in Survival Scout Tips, but today we’d want to take a look at the Great Depression from a different perspective. Rather of focusing on surviving the Great Depression, let’s think about what efforts we can take now to prepare for the Greater Depression, which experts fear could happen in our lifetime.
Before the Great Depression, some people took advantage of windows of opportunity, such as diversifying their income. We can learn from history and use this information to make better judgments to secure our livelihoods in the case of a Greater Depression because hindsight is 20/20.
Millions of people lost their jobs during the Great Depression. The percentage of women employed, on the other hand, increased. “From 1930 to 1940, the number of employed women in the United States increased by 24%, from 10.5 million to 13 million,” according to The History Channel. Despite the fact that women had been progressively entering the workforce for decades, the Great Depression forced them to seek work in ever greater numbers as male breadwinners lost their jobs.”
Women took on more steady jobs, such as nurses and teachers, as one of the causes. During the epidemic, we became accustomed to hearing about “essential workers,” or those who were required to keep the country running while other firms were closed.
Take action now to make oneself indispensable. Make every effort to convince your manager that you are an indispensable employee. This will not only keep you employed during a downturn in the economy, but it will also improve your prospects of getting a raise or advancing up the corporate ladder.
Don’t succumb to lifestyle creep if you follow step one and boost your income (where you start spending more as you earn more). Do the polar opposite instead. With economic uncertainty looming, now is not the time to go big. Instead, seek for ways to cut back on your spending. Look for ways to cut your utility and insurance payments, cancel unnecessary subscriptions, and stop buying new just because you can (you don’t need the latest cell phone model, for example).
Use the extra money you’re earning and the money you’re saving to cut back on your expenditures to pay off your debt. “Debt is an issue even when the economy is prospering,” Forbes writes. It’s an even bigger concern during recessions, when you may be facing the prospect of losing your job or seeing the value of your investments plummet.” You’ll have a higher chance of surviving the Great Depression if you have less debts.
You must also develop your savings in addition to paying off your debt. Many Americans, however, do not have an emergency savings account. If another depression strikes, having an emergency fund will go a long way toward ensuring your family’s safety.
Avoid placing all your eggs in one basket when it comes to income and savings. Diversify instead. This is not only how the majority of millionaires become millions, but it is also a sound financial approach. For example, if your company closes during a recession and that is your main source of income, you will lose all of your savings. You will have other means of survival if you start a side hustle now or make savvy investments (such as sin and comfort stocks, gold, or precious metals).
Many Americans are unconcerned with living over their means. “Experts believe that being in a persistent scenario of having little or no emergency funds is unpleasant, and even harmful,” according to U.S. News (let alone adequate retirement savings).
But, like the partially shut down federal government, which relies on borrowing to keep afloat and threatens another credit downgrade if the closure continues, economists believe Americans are unable or unwilling to live within their means. Credit is much easier to obtain and has evolved into a convenience rather than an emergency solution, according to experts.”
Many Americans use credit cards or bank loans to “buy” expensive cars, designer clothing, and luxury vacations that they can’t afford but convince themselves they can because they have a credit card.
People nowadays frequently use their debit or credit cards for all of their purchases. We shouldn’t invest all of our money in one bank, as the Great Depression demonstrated. That doesn’t imply you should hurry to the bank and deposit your whole savings account under your mattress. Instead, make it a priority to keep emergency funds on hand at all times.
Growing your knowledge base will not only make you irreplaceable at work, but it will also aid you at home if you experience a Greater Depression. Start learning about common household replacements and do-it-yourself solutions, for example. You won’t be able to buy things as readily or afford a handyman if a Greater Depression happens. As a result, it’s a good idea to learn as much as you can on your own.
Food and clean water will be among the first items to run short during the Great Depression. When things do return to stores, they may be rationed or at excessive costs. During the coronavirus scare, we witnessed this personally. Because natural calamities and economic turmoil are always a possibility, it’s a good idea to stock up on long-lasting emergency food and water purification equipment.
In the same way, start thinking about nonperishable things that would likely rise in price owing to inflation if a slump occurs. Consider what individuals bought in a panic in 2020 and hoard them now. Toilet paper, for example.
Is there a recession going on right now?
In the first two quarters of 2020, the US economy was in recession for the first time. In the second quarter of this year, it increased by 6.7 percent over the previous quarter. However, according to a recent article by two well-known economists, GDP estimates might fall into negative territory for the rest of the year.
What is the state of the US economy in 2022?
According to the Conference Board, real GDP growth in the United States would drop to 1.7 percent (quarter-over-quarter, annualized rate) in Q1 2022, down from 7.0 percent in Q4 2021. In 2022, annual growth is expected to be 3.0%. (year-over-year).
What should I put away in case of economic collapse?
Having a strong quantity of food storage is one of the best strategies to protect your household from economic volatility. In Venezuela, prices doubled every 19 days on average. It doesn’t take long for a loaf of bread to become unattainable at that pace of inflation. According to a BBC News report,
“Venezuelans are starving. Eight out of ten people polled in the country’s annual living conditions survey (Encovi 2017) stated they were eating less because they didn’t have enough food at home. Six out of ten people claimed they went to bed hungry because they couldn’t afford to eat.”
Shelf Stable Everyday Foods
When you are unable to purchase at the grocery store as you regularly do, having a supply of short-term shelf stable goods that you use every day will help reduce the impact. This is referred to as short-term food storage because, while these items are shelf-stable, they will not last as long as long-term staples. To successfully protect against hunger, you must have both.
Canned foods, boxed mixtures, prepared entrees, cold cereal, ketchup, and other similar things are suitable for short-term food preservation. Depending on the food, packaging, and storage circumstances, these foods will last anywhere from 1 to 7 years. Here’s where you can learn more about putting together a short-term supply of everyday meals.
Food takes up a lot of room, and finding a place to store it all while yet allowing for proper organization and rotation can be difficult. Check out some of our friends’ suggestions here.
Investing in food storage is a fantastic idea. Consider the case of hyperinflation in Venezuela, where goods prices have doubled every 19 days on average. That means that a case of six #10 cans of rolled oats purchased today for $24 would cost $12,582,912 in a year…amazing, huh? Above all, you’d have that case of rolled oats on hand to feed your family when food is scarce or costs are exorbitant.
Basic Non-Food Staples
Stock up on toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, shampoo, soaps, contact solution, and other items that you use on a daily basis. What kinds of non-food goods do you buy on a regular basis? This article on personal sanitation may provide you with some ideas for products to include on your shopping list.
Medication and First Aid Supplies
Do you have a chronic medical condition that requires you to take prescription medication? You might want to discuss your options with your doctor to see if you can come up with a plan to keep a little extra cash on hand. Most insurance policies will renew after 25 days. Use the 5-day buffer to your advantage and refill as soon as you’re eligible to build up a backup supply. Your doctor may also be ready to provide you with samples to aid in the development of your supply.
What over-the-counter drugs do you take on a regular basis? Make a back-up supply of over-the-counter pain pills, allergy drugs, cold and flu cures, or whatever other medications you think your family might need. It’s also a good idea to keep a supply of vitamin supplements on hand.
Prepare to treat minor injuries without the assistance of medical personnel. Maintain a well-stocked first-aid kit with all of the necessary equipment.
Make a point of prioritizing your health. Venezuelans are suffering significantly as a result of a lack of medical treatment. Exercise on a regular basis and eat a healthy diet. Get enough rest, fresh air, and sunlight. Keep up with your medical and dental appointments, as well as the other activities that promote health and resilience.
How can we get ready for the next downturn?
It is impossible to predict the exact reason of the next recession. We do, however, understand how it affects people on a personal level. Jobs become insecure or disappear. Businesses do not succeed. The financial markets suffer a setback, lowering portfolio values. Some people even lose their houses as a result of this.
Keeping this in mind, the following nine measures can be used to prepare for the next recession:
Shore Up Your Emergency Fund
Financial emergencies can occur at any time, although they are more common during recessions. Apart from having funds set aside for emergencies, having cash in the bank to cover you if you lose your work can be freeing.
While you don’t want to go overboard with your savings, you should consider increasing your emergency fund from three months’ worth of living expenses to six months or more. Having that kind of cash on hand can help you feel less worried about losing your work.
You can earn many times more than your local bank by transferring your savings to one of the top online savings accounts.
Nothing beats having money in the bank when a crisis strikes. It’s now or never to stock up on it.
Pay Off or (at least) Pay Down Your Debts
An impending recession might not be the best time to start a long-term undertaking, such as paying off your home early. However, it is a good moment to pay down or eliminate other debts.
Credit cards are at the top of the list. Paying down your debts is a great way to increase your cash flow because interest rates normally vary between 15% and 25%. Transferring your high-interest credit cards to a 0% balance transfer card is another good strategy. This can eliminate interest payments for a period of 12 to 24 months, allowing you to put more money toward your debt. As a result, you’ll be able to pay off your credit cards more quickly.
Auto loans or other sorts of installment borrowing would be next in line. Even though the interest rates are modest, the high set monthly payments may be something you can’t afford if you lose your job. Simply removing a payment from your to-do list can be a huge stress reliever.
Even if you are unable to pay off your mortgage, you may be able to reduce your monthly payments by refinancing into a lower-interest loan. If interest rates rise before or during the recession, this will be an extremely wise strategy.
There is no simple solution to repaying student loans. It may be worth paying off only to be rid of the payment if it’s a tiny sum (or to avoid the possibility of default). However, a huge sum is comparable to a mortgage. To pay it off, you’ll need to make a long-term commitment. Rather than tackling a huge loan balance on short notice, you could be better off keeping the funds liquid for emergencies. Calculate the numbers and make the best decision you can.
There are ways to pay off student debts faster, but you’ll need to be willing to put in the time and effort. Examine many tactics to see which one will work best for you.
Refinancing is another option if paying off your student loans seems impossible. You may be able to acquire a lower interest rate and a smaller monthly payment by using one of the finest student loan refinance sources. That will not eliminate your student loan payment, but it will make it much more reasonable.
Start Cutting Living Expenses
This is the place where you may let your inner penny pincher loose. If you have any expenses that aren’t absolutely required, this is a great moment to cut them back or remove them entirely.
One of the most effective strategies to reduce living expenses is to pay off or reduce debt. A debt is no longer an expense after it is paid off.
Apart from debt, you should analyze all of your spending. Get rid of any Hulu or Netflix subscriptions that you don’t utilize. Have you considered severing your cable connection? It’s possible that now is the right time. Another target is if you have a gym membership but never go to the gym. Just make sure you have other ways to stay in shape.
Insurance. Now is a great moment to re-evaluate your insurance coverage completely. Insurance has become a substantial expense for most families, and premiums may often be decreased by reviewing policies on a regular basis. Committed to locating the greatest insurance in each area, including life, health, disability, business, and even pet insurance.
Food is another expense that could be targeted for cost-cutting. Begin with restaurant fare. Reduce your eating out to once a week if you normally dine out twice a week. Take advantage of coupons and deals to eat at lower-cost eateries.
Look into wholesale clubs when it comes to grocery shopping. You’ll have to join, but you’ll most likely recoup your membership fees on your first shopping trip. ALDI is a good option if you live near one. Although it is unusual for a grocery store, you can significantly reduce your grocery price by shopping there.
Finally, if you haven’t done so already, get serious about creating a budget. You can organize your finances with the help of free budgeting applications. When you have all of your income and expenses in one place, it’s easier to stick to a budget.
Delay Major Spending Plans
Consider deferring your purchase of a new home or car for a few of years if you’ve been thinking about doing so.
Making a substantial purchase and taking on a larger monthly commitment just before the slump hits is one of the conditions that gets individuals into financial problems during a recession.
This is especially true when it comes to purchasing a new home. House prices have reached all-time highs, surpassing those seen prior to the last housing crisis. That should be a warning sign.
It isn’t merely the purchase price of the home. When you move from a less expensive property to a more expensive one, your other expenses are likely to rise as well. Higher electricity costs and property maintenance, as well as the fees that come with moving into a new house, can all add up.
Rearrange Your Stock Portfolio
This does not imply that you should sell all of your stock assets. However, this might be a good moment to start shifting your portfolio to safer investments.
Stocks with a high dividend yield. There will be a shift in investor attention if the stock market falls along with the economy. When growth is uncertain, income becomes more crucial. High dividend companies may be preferable to growth ones.
Consider putting some money into dividend aristocrats, a type of stock that pays out dividends on a regular basis. These are significant, well-known corporations’ equities that have increased their dividends for at least the past 25 years.
If you’re planning to make adjustments to your portfolio allocations, now might be a good time to switch brokers. In the brokerage business, a number of things have changed recently, including the advent of zero commission trades. Look into the best online brokers for you and make the necessary changes while the markets are still acting normally.
a trust that invests in real estate (REITs). They’re similar to mutual funds, but they invest in commercial real estate. A REIT might own retail assets, office buildings, or big apartment complexes, for example. It’s a means to spread a modest sum of money across a variety of assets and even geographical regions.
REITs pay monthly dividends, provide capital growth, and may even provide tax benefits. And their historical performance has been on par with or greater than that of stocks. Between 1978 and 2016, equity REITs outpaced equities by a margin of 12.87 percent to 11.64 percent.
REITs are a terrific method to break up an all-stock portfolio and diversify your equity allocation. Even if equities fall, they may continue to generate positive returns.
Reduce the amount of company stock you own. You may want to reduce your exposure to corporate stock if you have a lot of it in your employer-sponsored retirement plan. Your employer’s financial issues will have an influence not just on your work, but also on the value of their shares. In a recession, having too much stock in the firm you work for might be a double-edged sword.
Start Building Cash Reserves
This does not imply that you should sell your investments to raise funds. Keep your new investment contributions in cash and cash equivalents rather than stocks and bonds.
- When the bear market ends, you’ll have cash on hand to purchase stocks and mutual funds at much reduced prices.
There’s one more thing to consider: cash is the only completely safe investment when the financial markets go haywire. You’ll be developing a truly safe area of your financial portfolio by increasing your cash reserves.
Make Yourself More Valuable on the Job
Staff reductions are common during recessions. During the previous recession, the unemployment rate peaked at roughly 10%. However, the good news is that 90% of employees did not lose their employment.
When the next recession arrives, you’ll want to be a part of that group. Make a promise to yourself that you will.
The best way to do so is to improve your professional skills. Now is the time to get any credentials, professional training, or skill sets that will increase your employer’s value. During recessions, people do lose their jobs. The most valuable employees, on the other hand, keep theirs. You’ll have a far higher chance of making it among the survivors if you improve your work skills.
However, strengthening your abilities and qualifications has a supplementary benefit. If you do lose your job, you’ll be better prepared for the subsequent job search.
It’s best to put these tactics in place now, when you have control over the situation, rather than waiting until your employment becomes a problem.
Add an Additional Income Stream (or Two)
- It may be able to offer the additional funds required to implement the other solutions on this list.
- If you lose your job, the second income may serve as the foundation for your next principal source of income.
Creating a side hustle is one of the finest strategies to build additional revenue streams or at the very least a second income. In essence, this entails becoming self-employed. However, doing it as a side business makes the process much easier and less hazardous.
Consider any abilities you possess, especially if you employ them in your present or former jobs. However, you should also think about the abilities you employ in your daily life. Any one of those skills, or a combination of them, has the potential to be commercialized and turned into a lucrative side hustle.
It will take some time to get a side hustle off the ground and into a position where it can generate consistent income flow. That is why you should get started on this project right away.
Keep a Positive Mindset!
It’s impossible to dispute that worrying about your job while your stock portfolio plummets is unsettling. When confronted with a crisis, though, it is vital not to panic. The most effective approach to do this is to be deliberate in adopting and maintaining a positive mindset.
Don’t think of a downturn as the end of your career or your investing experience. Instead, think of it as a transitional period.
There’s a lot to be optimistic about in what may otherwise be a bleak situation:
- The downturn can help you get incentive to learn new job skills that can help you advance in your profession.
- You might now have the motivation to put that budget in place that you’ve been putting off over the protracted expansion.
Is there going to be a recession in 2022?
To listen to the podcast, press play on the player above and follow along with the transcript below. In its current form, this transcript was created automatically and then edited for clarity. Between the audio and the text, there may be some discrepancies.
- Republican attempts to invalidate state-ordered congressional districting schemes in North Carolina and Pennsylvania were rejected by the Supreme Court. For this year’s elections, justices are permitting maps chosen by each state’s Supreme Court to be used. Those maps are more Democratic-friendly than those drawn by state legislatures.
- The Israeli military says it has demolished the homes of two Palestinians accused of killing a Jewish seminary student and wounded others in a fatal shooting attack in the occupied West Bank last year.
- For betting on games, Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley has been suspended for at least the upcoming NFL season. He placed bets last season after declaring his departure from the team to focus on his mental health, according to an NFL inquiry.
The US economy is still recovering from the COVID-19-induced slump. Although a healthy job market is helping it catch up, analysts are also predicting an oncoming recession. Experts warn that it could happen this year, according to Economic Reporter Paul Davidson.
It’s unlikely that a recession will occur. Really, economists are looking out a year or a little over a year, and late 2022 is probably within that timeframe. The odds aren’t in your favor, but aren’t these all differences in odds? I instance, a few of economists told me that the chances of ad recession were 15%, and now one says it’s 30%, and another says it’s 25%. However, any time the odds improve, it’s worth noting. It’s possible that there will be, especially if sanctions against Russia’s oil exports are imposed and oil and gas prices skyrocket. Energy prices, after all, are a major consideration. When consumers have to pay that much out of pocket for gas and have to fill up every couple of weeks, they cut back on other purchases. As a result, inflation rises, prompting the Federal Reserve to boost interest rates even higher, posing new problems.
Joe LaVorgna, an economist, observed that, since 1970, whenever oil prices increased by 90% in a year, we were either in or about to enter a recession. So it’s back to what I was saying earlier, that it’s just a burden on the consumer. 70% of the economy is made up of consumer expenditure. So, if consumers spend more of their income on petrol and less on other items, you’re affecting 70% of the economy. That is one way, or channel, by which a recession might occur. The Fed, on the other hand, must react to inflation. And if the Fed has to raise interest rates too quickly, it can lead to inflation, as the home you buy, your credit card payments, and your auto loan all become more costly, which isn’t good for the stock market. As a result, Fed rate hikes by themselves can trigger a recession.
Arguments over whether Russia is committed war crimes in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine were heard before The Hague yesterday. Officials petitioned the International Court of Justice to halt the invasion. Russia declined to attend the session, while Anton Korynevych, the Ukrainian representative, urged action.
The fact that Russia’s chairs are empty is a powerful statement. They aren’t present in this courtroom. They are fighting an aggressive war against my country on a battlefield. Let us settle our conflict like civilized nations, is my appeal to Russia. Place your arms on the table and present your proof.
Russia’s tactics, according to Jonathan Gimblett, a member of Ukraine’s legal team, are reminiscent of medieval siege warfare. A truce in portions of Ukraine, including the city of Kyiv, is expected to begin this morning, according to Russia. However, Russia and Ukraine are debating which evacuation routes civilians will be allowed to utilize. A prior Russian plan indicated that routes should be taken through Russia or Belarus, a Russian ally. Instead, Ukraine has offered routes to the country’s western areas, where shelling is minimal compared to Eastern Ukraine. Cities in that region, such as Mariupol’s port, are running out of food and medicine. Around half of the city’s residents want to evacuate, but are waiting for safer evacuation routes. Cell phone networks are also down, in addition to supply problems.
Heavy Russian shelling continues to batter residential complexes in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city. Russian soldiers have mostly been unable to infiltrate Kyiv’s capital, while much of Russia’s attention has remained on smaller, easier-to-capture cities. Hundreds of checkpoints have been established to protect Kyiv by military and volunteers. Some are two stories high and made of thick concrete and sandbags, while others are more chaotic, with stacks of books holding down tires.
Despite the lack of evacuation routes, Ukrainians continue to flee the country in droves. A total of 1.7 million people are thought to have left, with the vast majority (more than a million) settling in Poland. Some hotels are putting people up in Romania, where approximately 100,000 Ukrainian refugees have landed. Nellya Nahorna, an 85-year-old grandmother at a hotel in Suceava, Romania, described the scenario like way. She had previously evacuated after fleeing the Nazi German invasion of Ukraine in 1941.
“This conflict is unique in that we had adversaries, the fascists. The Russians, on the other hand, were brothers here.”
The national average price of petrol has surpassed $4 per gallon, as we’ve been discussing on 5 Things. It’s the first time this has happened in almost a decade, with gas prices skyrocketing in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Is there, however, any hope in sight? Jordan Mendoza, a reporter, provides additional context.
The national average is currently $4.06, which is a significant increase from a week ago. It was $3.61 last week, according to AAA, and it’s now $4.06. In addition, the national average cost a typical gallon of gas is $4.11, which was set in 2008. And it appears to indicate that the record will be broken very soon, most likely this week. It could happen as soon as Tuesday, but it’ll most likely happen this week.
California has long been considered as the most costly state for gas; right now, the average cost of a gallon of gas in California is $5.34. The costs in California and Southern California are insane, but it’s the same story everywhere around the state. And we noticed that the states around us were going through the same thing. They aren’t as pricey as California, but Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, and Alaska are all experiencing the same problems.
I understand that a lot of it has to do with what’s going on in Ukraine right now, as well as Russia’s impact on oil prices, but it’s going to continue. People can report what prices are at the pump using the mobile app GasBuddy, which allows them to check how much gas is like where they are. They’re predicting that this will take a long time to resolve. They predict that the average cost of gas in the United States will be $4.25 in May. That’s 14 cents more than the previous high. As a result, it’ll most likely continue to rise for some time. Because gas prices normally rise in the summer, they’re speculating. Not only that, but a lot of COVID limits are being lifted as well. As a result, people desire to… They are able to go out more frequently. As a result of all of these factors, gas prices are likely to rise for the foreseeable future. According to GasBuddy, the average price of a gallon of gas will be over $4 until November. As a result, 2017 will be one of the most expensive gas years in US history.
Today, Apple will have an online event to announce some new items. One of them is an improved version of the iPhone SE, Apple’s more affordable smartphone. Brett Molina, the tech editor, has more.
A new generation of Apple’s budget-friendly smartphone, the iPhone SE, is one of the big reports we’ve seen as far as what Apple is likely to announce at this event. According to Bloomberg, Apple is expected to unveil not only a new SE, but also an improved iPad Air. During this event, we may also see a new Mac model. So, obviously, there’s a lot of interesting stuff that can come here. The last time we heard from Apple was in the fall, when the iPhone 13 was released. And, of course, that was a huge hit. Apple reported iPhone sales of 71.6 billion on their most recent quarterly call, which comes as no surprise, but the iPhone makes a lot of money for Apple.
However, for a few of reasons, the iPhone SE on a budget will be something to keep an eye on. First and foremost, we are seeing a greater number of cheap phones on the market, as I recently discussed, where you don’t have to pay a lot of money to have a smartphone that is really nice, extremely useful, and really functional. Of course, the iPhone SE is currently available; they have a replica of this. It’s also a good phone. I believe it costs between $450 and $500. You get a lot of the benefits of being part of the Apple ecosystem. Obviously, there are certain flaws in the hardware itself. On the back, there is simply one camera. It still works rapidly, but not as swiftly as before. As I previously stated, the camera isn’t as excellent as newer versions, and the battery life isn’t likely to be as good either. But, then again, it’s a good way to come into the Apple ecosystem, and it’s a good phone.
What will happen with the display is one of the things I’ll be looking at. Are we going to stick with the reduced display size, or will they upgrade it to match the rest of their models? One of the iPhone SE’s distinguishing features has been its reduced screen size. Are they going to keep it up? How much of a difference will we see in the cameras? What kind of camera will we get this time, and what kind of processing will we use? Those are the two things that pique my curiosity.
Of course, all of these stories indicate that this will be a 5G phone. It’s also intriguing since it’s a pretty simple method to get into 5G. Of course, there will be other phones around this price point, but getting an iPhone with 5G at what is projected to be an affordable price might be a very excellent alternative for a lot of people.