An effort to expand the availability of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, a 30-year high in inflation, falling jobless claims, a gubernatorial re-election bid in Connecticut, and a warning about Connecticut’s tax amnesty program are among the top business news items this morning.
National
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech are asking the Food and Drug Administration to approve booster shots of its COVID-19 vaccine for all adults. Research has shown that the vaccines continue to offer significant protection but decline in effectiveness over time, with boosters helping to address this issue; the extra shots are currently only available to certain people, including those at higher risk of infection.
Business trends
Inflation has risen to its highest level since 1990, according to the latest measure of the Labor Department’s consumer price index. Consumer prices in October were 6.2 percent higher than a year earlier, with costs rising across a variety of categories including energy, vehicles, and homes.
Initial jobless claims ticked down to a new pandemic low, falling to 267,000 last week. Continuing claims for the week ending Oct. 30 stood at 2.2 million.
Connecticut
Governor Ned Lamont has confirmed that he will seek a second term in 2022. While Lamont initially said he was filing paperwork for re-election as a preparatory step in advance to making a final decision, he clarified Tuesday that he will be a candidate in next year’s gubernatorial race.
The commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services says the state’s tax amnesty program may not be returning in the foreseeable future, urging people with tax issues to take advantage of it now. The program allows businesses and residents a period to address problems such as unpaid back taxes or a failure to file taxes.
