The US is one month into its reopening efforts, but questions remain about the durability of the economic recovery or the effectiveness of the efforts aimed at controlling spread of the coronavirus. National data shows improvements in retail foot traffic and a decline in jobless benefits claims, but an analysis of the regional numbers show spread of the virus may be greater in areas where the economy is bouncing back.

Applicants with white-sounding names get 50% more callbacks than applicants with black-sounding names despite similar work experience, writes Martine Cadet, vice president of social impact at Pymetrics. Cadet writes that these "name misimpressions" are holding back diversity efforts, and suggests supporting transparent, automated hiring tools for candidate assessments.

The IRS is accepting comments through Aug. 10 on a proposal to allow the use of health reimbursement arrangements to pay for direct primary care memberships and health care ministries. The IRS is also asking for comments on whether the final rules should clarify the treatment of similar arrangements, such as dental care contracts.

New unemployment claims topped 1.5 million in the US last week, according to a Labor Department report, and 700,000 new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims were submitted. These numbers are down from previous weeks, but the nation is still experiencing its highest unemployment rates since the Great Depression, and the job market is not expected to bounce back any time soon, economists say.

Dogs and cats will briefly watch images on a television screen, recognizing other animals and prey, but vision differences between humans and animals mean screens hold less interest for them than the real world. Dogs bred for hunting are more captivated by motion on the screen, researchers found, than dogs who rely on smell.