Axios

There appears to be a link between states seeing a strong rebound in a slice of small business hiring: higher vaccination rates.

Driving the news: A new report by payroll processing firm Gusto says places with a bigger share of their population fully jabbed also saw bigger instances of job growth in the service sector.

The White House and Democratic leaders have been dueling — publicly and privately — over who should take responsibility for extending an eviction moratorium that could protect millions of people on the verge of homelessness.

Why it matters: It's a rare moment of dysfunction between the usually-in-lockstep Biden team and congressional leadership.

Target will start to require masks for employees in high-risk counties across the United States starting Tuesday, the company announced Monday.

Driving the news: The new policy comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued updated guidance recommending vaccinated people wear masks in indoor, public settings if they are in parts of the country with substantial to high transmission.

Hello Sunshine, the Hollywood production company co-founded by Reese Witherspoon, has sold to a new, unnamed media company backed by Blackstone and led by former Disney executives Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer, Hello Sunshine said Monday.

Why it matters: Hello Sunshine was one of several smaller Hollywood studios exploring opportunities to sell, given the ripe market for content firms in the streaming era.

Stagwell, a D.C.-headquartered marketing services agency, said Monday it closed a deal to combine with MDC Partners, a global ad holding company based in New York.

Why it matters: It's the largest transaction in the advertising sector so far this year.

It's finally "Infrastructure Week" and Congress is hammering out the details of a $1 trillion bill inching closer to the finish line. But one area that could face unpleasant consequences from the bill is cryptocurrencies.

Why it matters: Nearly $30 billion in taxes from cryptocurrency transactions, as part of the bill's "pay-fors," is at stake.

Square has agreed to acquire Afterpay, an Australian company in the "buy now, pay later" (BNPL) category, for $29 billion.

Why it matters: This is Square's second big-ticket acquisition this year (after Tidal), showing that it's not shy when it comes to bold moves to expand its business lines.

Turn on the TV any time these days, and you may hear someone sounding pretty certain about their view on the direction of inflation. That someone won’t be Howard Marks, veteran investor and billionaire co-founder of hedge fund Oaktree Capital.

Driving the news: Marks admits he doesn’t know what’s next for inflation. And he says in a memo that investors should put little weight in forecasts about the economy because he’s "convinced the macro future isn’t knowable."

August is not friendly to investors, according to history.

Why it matters: Despite its modest decline on Friday, the stock market continues to trade near all-time highs. In fact, the S&P 500 has booked gains for six consecutive months.

Investors who’ve opted to passively track the stock market haven’t just outperformed most active fund managers. They’ve also saved a ton of money in fees while doing it.

Why it matters: There are loads of active fund managers aiming to beat the returns of funds that track indexes like the S&P 500.

America’s consumers will not be stopped. Household spending rose in June even more than economists had expected, according to new government data out Friday.

Why it matters: Consumers are dealing with frustration with rising prices, concerns over the spread of COVID-19 variants and the lapsing of stimulus checks. But none of that put a damper on spending.

Companies around the world are responding to the pandemic-induced rise of telework by transitioning to a hybrid of in-person and remote work. But that model is inherently flawed, experts say.

The big picture: Employers haven't been clear with their definitions of hybrid work — whether it means the workforce is hybrid or the workweek is hybrid — and that hasn't allowed workers to make the big changes to their lifestyles that flexible work should allow.

The Department of Justice has joined whistleblower complaints that allege Kaiser Permanente knowingly made its Medicare Advantage patients look sicker than they were, as a way to obtain more money from the federal government.

Why it matters: For years now the federal government has cracked down on fraudulent coding in Medicare Advantage. But going after Kaiser Permanente, a company that many view as the gold standard for Medicare Advantage, indicates the problem may touch almost every corner of the industry.

Israel's new government approved the 2021-2022 state budget on Monday, after a meeting that lasted almost 24 hours.

Why it matters: Previous governments couldn't pass a budget amid the political crisis that engulfed Israel over the past three years — preventing many government reforms from moving forward.

New Zealand's Human Rights Commission launched a national inquiry into the country's housing crisis.

Why it matters: While New Zealand is one of the world's wealthiest nations, it's an expensive place to live. Human Rights Commission chief Paul Hunt noted in a statement: "Successive governments have failed New Zealanders," resulting in a "massive human rights failure."