Food inflation bites Biden

Plus: RIP Blackberry | Tuesday, January 04, 2022

Open in app View in browser     Axios Closer By Hope King and Nathan Bomey ·Jan 04, 2022 Welcome back! How are you? Happy Tuesday. Today's newsletter is 672 words, a 2½-minute read. 🔔 The dashboard: The S&P closed down 0.1%. Biggest gainer? Ford (+11.7%). The company announced plans to nearly double production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck. Biggest decliner? Lab equipment maker PerkinElmer (-4.6%). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯     1 big thing: Biden hungry to squelch food inflation President Biden holds a virtual meeting with farmers and ranchers. Photo: Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images   Rising food prices are bedeviling the Biden administration, fueling consumers' concerns about inflation and prompting the president to target the meatpacking industry, Nathan writes. Why it matters: American families are fretting over food prices, which rose 6.1% from November 2020 to November 2021, according to the latest Consumer Price Index data. Biden's disapproval rating reached a new high in a CNBC/Change Research poll released Tuesday, with 72% disapproving of his handling of the price of everyday items. State of play: Biden accused the meat sector of "exploitation" and detailed plans to devote $1 billion to independent meat processors to boost competition. The top four meat processors in beef, pork and poultry control 85%, 70% and 54% of their markets, respectively. The price of meats, poultry, fish and eggs rose 12.8% in the latest CPI report. The other side: The Biden administration's action reflects a "tired approach" that "continues to ignore the No. 1 challenge to meat and poultry production: labor shortages," Julie Anna Potts, president and CEO of the North American Meat Institute, said in a statement. Analysts say many factors — including shipping slowdowns, supply chain problems and increased demand — are driving up prices. "Almost none of it has to do with concentration and market power issues," Purdue University agricultural economist Jayson Lusk tells Axios. Yes, but: The Justice Department last year accused the broiler-chicken industry of "price fixing, bid rigging and other anticompetitive conduct" as part of an ongoing investigation. "I can see why the administration wants to scrutinize" the industry, CFRA Research food sector analyst Arun Sundaram tells Axios. But "the fallacy is attributing rising meat prices to a single factor." What we're watching: Food inflation is expected to remain at elevated levels in the first half of 2022, fueling further frustration among consumers.     2. Charted: BlackBerry withers on the vine Data: Gartner; Chart: Baidi Wang/Axios BlackBerry OS phones will stop working today, bringing an end to a device that helped usher in the smartphone era, Nathan writes. By the numbers: BlackBerry sales peaked at 51.5 million in 2011, according to Gartner.     3. What's happening 😷 Macy's is the latest retailer to cut back on store hours temporarily amid a rise in reported COVID cases in the U.S. (CNBC) Walmart and Kroger raise the price for BinaxNOW at-home rapid tests to $20 and $24, respectively. (WSJ) 🚗 Toyota unseats GM as the top-selling automaker in the U.S. for the first time, based on 2021 sales. (WSJ) 🐵 OpenSea, an NFT marketplace, is in talks to acquire Dharma Labs, a digital wallet for crypto, Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva scoops.     A message from Axios Checklist for more engaging communications     Axios HQ's checklist is informed by Axios' Smart Brevity® methodology, which is shaped by shifting reader behaviors and optimized to keep them engaged. It works for any form of communication, from a roundup of industry news to a rundown of your organization's most vital, internal updates. Get the free checklist     4. 🎣 A lot of fish in the sea Data: BLS; Chart: Sara Wise/Axios Workers continued to flex their value in a wide-open job market. What's happening: A record number of people quit in November — more than 4.5 million — matching the highest rate in the two decades of government tracking, Axios' Emily Peck and Courtenay Brown report.  Between the lines: Service sector workers have seen intense competition for their talent and quit at more than two times the national rate.  "[P]eople aren't quitting their jobs to leave the labor force. They are quitting their jobs to take other jobs," said Heidi Shierholz, president of the progressive Economic Policy Institute. The big picture: There are still about 10.6 million open roles in the U.S. and more than 6.9 million people who are currently unemployed as of November.   Share Axios and earn rewards If you like this newsletter, your friends may, too! Refer your friends and get free Axios swag when they sign up. Be a good friend and share   5. ⚾ A "baller" move Fanatics founder/executive chair Michael Rubin. Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Fanatics   Michael Rubin, CEO of sports-merchandise seller Fanatics, has made a clean sweep in the trading card business, writes Hope.  Catch up quick: Fanatics now owns the collectibles division of Topps, the famed baseball card maker.  The deal, reportedly worth $500 million, comes after Fanatics took a crucial Major League Baseball licensing deal away from Topps last summer. Losing that relationship led Topps to end its plans to go public via a SPAC, throwing the 84-year-old company's future into question.  What remains of Topps (Bazooka gum and gift cards) will now be called the Bazooka Companies.     6. What they're saying "This agreement ensures that there will be no disruptions to air operations over the next two weeks," — President Biden, in response to AT&T and Verizon agreeing to briefly delay the new 5G deployment planned for this week.      A message from Axios Checklist for more engaging communications     Axios HQ's checklist is informed by Axios' Smart Brevity® methodology, which is shaped by shifting reader behaviors and optimized to keep them engaged. It works for any form of communication, from a roundup of industry news to a rundown of your organization's most vital, internal updates. Get the free checklist   🙌 Thanks for reading! Have a good one, and remember to take care of yourself. Like this email style and format? Bring the strength of Smart Brevity® to your team — more effective communications, powered by Axios HQ.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. 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