Briefs for Saturday

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve says its low interest rate policies are providing “powerful support” for the economy as it recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

In its twice-a-year report to Congress on monetary policy released Friday, the Fed indicated that it planned to maintain that support until further progress is made in recovering from last year’s severe recession.

Over the first half of this year, progress on vaccinations helped to reopen the economy and produced strong economic growth, according to the Fed, but it said the lingering effects of the pandemic continue to weigh on the economy, with employment still well below pre-pandemic levels.

Shortages of materials and difficulties in hiring had held back activity in a number of industries and bottlenecks and other transitory factors had boosted inflation, according to the Fed.

Chinese firms land on blacklist

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration added 14 Chinese companies to a trade blacklist on Friday over their alleged role in that country’s abuses of its Uyghur civilians and other Muslim ethnic minorities.

The Commerce Department said in a statement that the electronics and technology firms and other businesses helped enable “Beijing’s campaign of repression, mass detention and high-technology surveillance” against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang province.

The penalties prohibit Americans from selling equipment or other goods to the firms, are the latest from the United States as it steps up financial and trade penalties over China’s treatment of the Uyghur people.

The Chinese government since 2017 has detained a million or more people in the northwest province of Xinjiang. Critics accuse China of operating forced labor camps and carrying out torture and forced sterilization there as it allegedly seeks to assimilate Muslim ethnic minority groups.

From wire reports