Airbnb pays off in rural Texas
Texans running Airbnb rentals in rural counties earned $20.6 million in supplemental income in the last 12 months with 169,000 guests, according to a new report from the hospitality company. These results represent a growth rate double that of urban counties, the report added, citing a trend of more guests wanting to visit more than just Texas’ big cities. The company said that while the Texas hotel industry is booming, most of this growth is concentrated in the four major metro areas, making Airbnb sometimes the only lodging option outside of these cities and suburbs. Gillespie county recorded the highest number of Airbnb guests in the last 12 months with 49,000 visitors, according to the Airbnb report. “As the state officer who oversees 13 million acres of rural Texas land, I am grateful for Airbnb’s commitment to bringing economic opportunity to rural Texas in a new and innovative way,” said George P. Bush, Texas land commissioner in a statement.
Poverty falls: Global poverty has fallen to a record low. The World Bank said Wednesday that 10 percent of the world’s population lived on less than $1.90 a day in 2015 — the last year for which numbers were available — down from 11.2 percent in 2013. That means 735.9 million people lived below the poverty threshold in 2015, down by 68.3 million from 804.2 million two years earlier. Still, the bank warned that the pace of poverty reduction has slowed, jeopardizing its goal of reducing the poverty rate to 3 percent by 2030. Poverty dropped everywhere but the Middle East and North Africa, where conflicts in Syria and Yemen ratcheted the poverty rate to 5 percent in 2015 from 2.6 percent in 2013, raising the number of impoverished to 18.6 million from 9.5 million.
Bag fees raised: Delta Air Lines is joining two rivals in raising fees to check a bag on a flight within the United States. Delta on Wednesday posted new fees of $30 for checking a first bag and $40 for a second bag, increasing the previous fees by $5 each. The changes match increases recently imposed by United Airlines and JetBlue Airways. By midday, American Airlines had not increased bag fees. Southwest Airlines lets passengers check up to two bags free. Airlines have been pulling in more revenue from extra charges for several years. Last year, U.S. carriers raised $7.4 billion from fees on checked bags and ticket changes, led by American, Delta and United.
Construction up: U.S. home construction rebounded in August at the fastest pace in seven months but applications for new building permits plunged, sending mixed signals for an industry that has been struggling with rising lumber costs. Housing starts increased 9.2 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.28 million units, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Housing starts had declined 0.3 percent in July and 11.4 percent in June. The increase was the biggest since a 10.2 percent advance in January. Application for building permits, considered a good indication of future activity, fell by 5.7 percent in August after a 0.9 percent rise in July.
No tax deal: The European Union has ruled that Luxembourg did not give the U.S. fast-food giant McDonald’s a special sweet tax deal and that the nontaxation of some of its profits did not amount to illegal state aid. The EU Commission ended a probe that started in 2015.. Under the complicated tax structure in Luxembourg and the United States, McDonald’s avoided paying taxes on some profits on both sides of the Atlantic.
Driver out: AutoNation rose 0.82 percent to $43.91 on news that CEO Mike Jackson is stepping down after almost two decades leading the nation’s largest auto dealership chain.
Fit for growth: Fitbit shares gained 6 percent to $6.11 after the maker of wearable exercise trackers launched a platform that offers personalized coaching. The company also announced a partnership with Humana to potentially give the insurer’s 5 million members access to the platform.