Articles by Michael Sasso

In SW Florida, High Home Insurance Rates Are Driving Away Would-Be Buyers

(Bloomberg) — Florida’s southwestern coast — long one of America’s fastest-growing regions — is losing some of its boomtown swagger as a home-insurance crisis and other soaring costs make homes unaffordable. Homeowners from Sarasota south to Naples, known for its …

Auto Insurance Costs Soar by 20% in the US

There’s no relief in sight for US car owners who’ve faced soaring costs of maintaining a vehicle in the past two years. Prices of motor-vehicle insurance rose 20.3% in December from a year earlier, the biggest jump since 1976, according …

Remote Work Saves Global Commuters 72 Minutes a Day: Study

Working from home is saving commuters around the world 72 minutes a day, time they’re splitting between their jobs, leisure and caregiving, a new study shows. Remote staff are saving the most time in China, where forgoing the trek to …

Business Startups Surged Amid Covid-19 Pandemic

The surge of U.S. business formations in the back half of 2020 has been one of the pandemic’s many surprises. After cratering by 30% in the weeks following the March lockdowns, paperwork filed by prospective businesses started growing in June …

Businesses Hurt First by Coronavirus Then by Looting Have New Insurance Questions

Al’s, a sporting-goods store tucked in Wilmington, Delaware’s small shopping district, opened during the Great Depression, weathered World War II and has been able to keep workers on the job during the coronavirus pandemic. But this past weekend delivered a …

The $900 Billion Auto Aftermarket: Where Total Losses Turn Into Big Gains

Mike Rosser, a 41-year veteran of the salvage car business, remembers a day when auctions for junked cars drew 30 guys standing in the sun, inspecting mangled cars for intact alternators and transmissions. On this February morning, though, the suburban …

Actuaries Face Uncertainty Amid Encroachment by Data Scientists

Riley Howsden has one of those hip jobs everyone loves to hate. He works at L.A.-based video game producer Riot Games, where business attire includes hoodies, the food comes free and his job entails deducing what kinds of products gamers …

More Employers Adopting Continuous Background Checks on Employees

Jay Cradeur takes pride in his 4.9 driver rating on Uber Technologies Inc.’s five-star scale and the almost 19,000 rides he’s given in the capital of ride sharing, San Francisco. So he was puzzled — and more than a little …

400 Delta Flights Scrapped After Atlanta Airport Outage Chaos

Delta Air Lines Inc. and other carriers worked to get thousands of stranded passengers onto planes after a major electrical disruption in Atlanta crippled service at the world’s busiest hub, extending flight cancellations into a second day. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International …

Hurricane Maria Speeds Up, Threatening Already-Battered Caribbean Islands

For the third time this month, a hurricane is spinning toward the already battered Caribbean and gathering strength along the way. The National Hurricane Center upgraded tropical storm Maria to a hurricane Sunday as winds picked up to 90 miles …