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News Roundup: Week of July 11

Campus | Photo by Christian Peters | The Wright State Guardian


From local happenings to national topics and global events, here is the news worth knowing for the week of July 11, 2022.

Local 

As summer celebrations and travel continue, COVID-19 community levels are rising in both the Dayton and Mercer County areas. 

Greene County, where Wright State University’s main campus is situated, community transmission levels are labeled as “high” by the Center for Disease Control. In Mercer County, where WSU Lake Campus is, community levels are “medium”.

Citizens in these areas are encouraged to wear masks indoors and on public transit. Additionally, WSU has upped its masking policy to “strongly recommend”, with masks to be worn in all indoor campus areas. 

In other COVID news, The Ohio Ballot Board, approved the citizen-initiated constitutional amendment, “Medical Right to Refuse”, on June 5.

If passed, this amendment to Ohio’s constitution would ban employers, schools and other public institutions from having vaccine mandates. The amendment also features a clause against discrimination based on vaccine status.

According to the petition, the amendment already has 1,566 signatures from electors but still needs certification from the Ohio Attorney General. If certified, the petition will move on to the Ohio ballot. 

National 

The U.S. The Bureau of Labor Statistics published its June employment situation on July 8. 

This report is taken every month based on national survey data collected by the Bureau and shows employment trends. Here are some highlights. 

Staying consistent with the previous four months, June’s unemployment rate rests at 3.6%, with 5.9 million unemployed, according to the report. 

Unemployment in the Asian American population rose to 3%, for the African American community, 5.8% and for teenagers, or those aged 16-19, 11%.

The report also shows the pandemic continues to affect workers. The report explains how there were fewer remote workers in June and fewer workers overall, due to the pandemic.

Employment in private sector jobs rose, with professional services, business, leisure, hospitality and health fields having significant increases in employment. However, government employment is still down, with 664,000 unfulfilled jobs. 

Earnings in the private sectors rose .3% with average hourly earnings increasing by 5.1% over the past year. The average hours worked in a week by private-sector employees remains at 34.5 hours. 

These employment trends help determine overall economic trends for the nation and are a factor in the U.S.’s financial situation.

Global

Last week was one of turmoil for global leaders. 

Britain’s prime minister Boris Johnson stepped down as leader of Britain’s Conservative party on July 7 and is expected to step down as prime minister when the party finds a replacement. 

Also facing public backlash, Sri Lankan prime minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced his resignation last week and is expected to step down on July 13. Recently, the island nation has faced economic and political challenges causing frustration among its citizens who’ve expressed outrage at the Sri Lankan government. 

Japan and many ally countries continue to mourn Shinzo Abe, former prime minister of Japan, who was assassinated during a political event on Friday. 


Jamie Naylor

Editor-in-Chief

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