A Supreme Court hearing on proposed COVID-19 vaccine mandates, doubled growth in early stage company funding, and a major blow to movie theater attendance are among the top business news items this morning.
National
The Supreme Court will meet today to hear arguments on an Occupational Safety and Health Administration emergency temporary standard that would require employers with 100 or more employees to establish COVID-19 vaccination policies, including a vaccinate-or-test rule. The court will also hear arguments on a vaccine mandate covering most health care workers.
Business trends
2021 was a banner year for early stage company funding, according to data from Crunchbase. Global investments in these companies doubled from 2020 to reach $201 billion, with about $29.4 billion going to companies in their seed stage.
Movie theater attendance has fallen well below historical norms, according to a recent Gallup poll. A record high 61 percent of Americans did not go to a movie last year, up from 32 percent between 2001 and 2007; the average American saw 1.4 movies in a theater in the past 12 months, down from 4.8 during the earlier period.
