Evening Briefing

More bad news for the stumbling U.S. recovery. New applications for unemployment benefits rose by 135,000 to more than 1.1 million in the week ended Aug. 15. While there was some better news—the total number of Americans claiming ongoing unemployment fell to a still-breathtaking 14.8 million—the data may still signal that premature reopenings ostensibly aimed at helping the economy have instead done the opposite after triggering a wildfire of coronavirus infections and deaths. Now, it seems that millions of jobs could remain lost for many years to come. Stocks are still rising, though. —David E. Rovella

Here are today’s top stories

There’s good news for the housing market, at least for now. Armed with the lowest mortgage rates in history, Americans are feeding a suburban buying frenzy, one driven by urban exiles hunting for space to quarantine in comfort, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. The effort however is being helped by policymakers who have temporarily frozen foreclosures, cut borrowing costs and flooded the economy with bailout cash.

The global economy’s loss is a gold bug’s gain. The shiny metal will extend its record-setting rally on “massive currency debasement” and expectations for further bailout cash, according to SkyBridge Capital. “When you think of currency debasement the question is, what is the dollar going to weaken against, and when you look around the globe, it’s hard to be excited about alternative currencies,” said SkyBridge’s Troy Gayeski, co-chief investment officer and senior portfolio manager “So, gold is obviously a natural alternative currency.”

Former Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination Thursday night from his home state of Delaware. The speech follows last night’s unprecedented excoriation of President Donald Trump by his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, and the acceptance speech of Biden’s running mate, Senator Kamala Harris. On Capitol Hill Friday, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is scheduled to testify amid fears that millions will be disenfranchised by the Republican megadonor’s efforts to cut Postal Service capacity, hours, services and mailboxes, and his alleged refusal to undo those cuts and restrictions before a flood of mail-in ballots and applications is unleashed. DeJoy has played host to Trump at his North Carolina home and served as national finance chair for the Republican National Convention. He and his wife, Aldona Z. Wos, who was tapped to be U.S. ambassador to Canada, have given $2.6 million to Republicans over the past 11 years. A little less than half went to Trump Victory. DeJoy also gave $100,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee. Meanwhile in rural America, critical medicines are being delayed while individuals may not be able to vote absentee at all, since postal workers have been barred from serving as a witness while on duty. Some election experts contend that many Americans fearful of the coronavirus and distrustful of the once-revered U.S. Postal Service will simply not vote.

Spain, where more than 28,000 people have died from the coronavirus, has re-emerged as the epicenter of the scourge in Europe. And its leaders seem to be in denial, and on vacation. Here is the latest on the pandemic.

Opposition activists in Russia have blamed President Vladimir Putin for the poisoning of his most prominent opponent, anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, during a trip to Siberia. The democracy activist is in intensive care. Russian security services said they are not investigating the attack, the latest in a series of suspected murders and attempted murders by poisoning of Putin’s opponents and others who have fallen out of favor with the Kremlin. “It’s Putin,” Navalny spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Twitter. “Whether or not he gave the order, the fault is entirely on him.”

Kim Jong Un issued a dire warning for North Korea’s economy amid reports that he delegated some power to his sister, including responsibility for relations with the U.S.

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Wearable Tech Enters the Fight Against Covid-19

The prospect of suddenly falling gravely ill with no early symptoms is one of the coronavirus’s many frightening aspects. Now some individuals are contributing their health data with wearable Fitbit fitness devices as part of a study tracking early signs of Covid-19. The devices monitor heart rate, sleep patterns, and physical activity levels; if they can pick up the subtle physiological changes that herald infection, they could nudge users to get tested even before symptoms appear. Bringing such tech-based Covid-19 detection to an entire community could spot outbreaks earlier, alert individuals who may remain asymptomatic but contagious, and help local officials increase the effectiveness of their testing and tracing protocols.

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