The Norwegian cruise line could bypass Florida because of the ban on vaccine requirements
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings in Miami threatens to skip Florida ports as governor bans companies from requiring customers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
According to the company, the government’s order, Ron DeSantis, is in violation of federal health authorities’ guidelines to evacuate cruise ships in US waters if passengers and crew are vaccinated. According to Norwegian CEO Frank Del Rio, lawyers believe federal law has the highest law in the country.
The CEO says if Norwegians can’t work in Florida, he can go to other states or the Caribbean. The company owns Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
Consumer credit will rise again in March
U.S. consumer credit rose $ 25.8 billion in March, the second straight monthly gain.
The figure released by the Federal Reserve on Friday is another indication that the US economic recovery is going strong. The March surge follows an even bigger surge of $ 26.1 billion in February. The two hikes were the largest monthly gain since a $ 26.8 billion surge in December 2019 before the pandemic.
The March loan advance reflected an increase of $ 6.4 billion in the Credit Cards category and an increase of $ 19.4 billion in the Auto Loans and Student Loans category.
BMW benefits from sales in China
Car sales are booming in China and the German BMW is benefiting from it. The luxury car dealer doubled its sales in the first quarter. This enabled BMW to achieve a net profit of 2.8 billion euros in Munich in the first three months of the year.
BMW’s net profit rose from 574 million in the previous year to 2.83 billion euros. Sales rose by 15% to 26.78 billion euros. Profitability per vehicle, defined as operating profit on sales, reached 9.8%, a sharp increase of 1.3% in the previous quarter and within the company’s long-term target range.
Car markets are rising again due to the worst pandemic recession. An exception was BMW’s home market in Germany, where sales fell. The company says it is using all of that money to move forward with more electric and digitally connected cars.
German production increased sharply in March
Factory production and exports in Germany increased sharply in March. This is good for the second quarter in Europe’s largest economy as it struggles to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Friday that industrial production rose 2.5% in March compared to February, adjusted for seasonal and calendar factors. In a separate encouraging report, German exports rose by 1.2% in March compared with February and by 16.1% compared with March last year, according to seasonally and calendar-adjusted figures from the Federal Statistical Office.
The German economy outperformed a number of others in Europe last year as it was supported by manufacturing.
– Compiled by Dave Flessner
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