San José, CA – On May 16, about 50 students gathered at the Olympic Black Power Statue, at San José State University, to rally in defense of Roe v. Wade.

San José, CA – On Monday, May 9, U.S. stock prices continued to fall, with the broadest index, the S&P 500, losing more than 3%. This is the biggest one-day drop in stock prices since the onset of COVID in the United States in early 2020. The S&P 500 has fallen 17% since hitting an all-time record high in late March. This is approaching the 20% drop that is labeled a “bear market.” Stock prices of high-tech companies have fallen even more, with the technology-heavy NASDAQ index already in bear market territory.

San Jose, CA – On May 1, about 400 people had gathered at Roosevelt Park in San Jose to celebrate International Workers Day. Many leftist organizations, trade unions, and grassroots organizations like Papeles Para Todos attended.

Biggest one-day drop since 2020

San José, CA – On Friday, April 22, U.S. stocks fell more than 2.5%, with the Dow Jones Industry Average, dropping almost 1000 points. This led to the third week of losses for U.S. stocks, as a combination of recession fears – based on slowing corporate sales and profits, combined with the reality of higher interest rates – influenced investors.

San José, CA – On Saturday, February 5, anti-war protesters gathered in front of San José’s City Hall to demand an end to imperial saber rattling in eastern Europe. Speakers from CODEPINK, Freedom Road Socialism (FRSO), National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Party for Socialism and Liberation, and the El Barrio Defense Committee gathered a crowd of 30 onlookers while calling for end to the war drive against Russia.

San José, CA – On Thursday, January 20, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of new claims for unemployment insurance rose for the second week in row, to more than 280,000 for the week of January 10-15. This is up almost 40% from the beginning of January. While much of this may be caused by the spike in COVID-19, there have been other signs of economic weakness that started to show up in December.

On Thursday, January 20, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of new claims for unemployment insurance rose for the second week in row, to more than 280,000 for the week of January 10-15. This is up almost 40% from the beginning of January. While much of this may be caused by the spike in COVID-19, there have been other signs of economic weakness that started to show up in December.

“Terrible” report shows signs of economic weakness

San José, CA – On Friday, January 14, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that retail sales dropped 1.9% in December 2021. This number was called “terrible” by economists, who expected a very slight drop of 0.1%. Since the retail sales report is not adjusted for inflation, sales discounting higher prices fell almost 2.5%.

San José, CA – On Wednesday, January 12 the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that prices of consumer goods rose 7% in 2021. This is the highest rate of inflation in 40 years. With workers’ wages only up by 4.7% last year, the purchasing power of workers’ earnings fell by more than 2%.

San José, CA – On Friday, January 7 the U.S. Department of Labor released its last report on the 2021 job market. There were only 199,000 new jobs created, less than half of what economists and the business media expected. Most types of jobs showed slower growth, and there were 10,000 jobs lost by local governments. Despite strong job growth in 2021, there were still 3.6 million fewer jobs in December as compared to February 2020, right before the last recession began.