Uber adds extra check for riders to wear masks

Mask slackers will now have to provide photographic proof they’re wearing a face covering before boarding an Uber.

The San Francisco-based company unveiled a policy Tuesday stipulating that if a driver reports to Uber that a rider wasn’t wearing a mask, the rider will have to take a selfie with a mask the next time they summon a driver.

The mask verification rules expand upon a similar requirement that Uber imposed on its drivers in May to help reassure passengers worried about being exposed to the coronavirus. Now, Uber believes it’s time to help make its drivers feel safer, too.

The requirement will roll out in the U.S. and Canada later this month before coming to other parts of the world.

The additional safety measures are part of Uber’s efforts to rebuild a service that has seen ridership plunge this year.

Growth in manufacturing index exceeds economists’ forecasts

American factories expanded last month at the fastest pace since late 2018, continuing a rebound from the coronavirus recession.

The Institute for Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers, reported Tuesday that its manufacturing index climbed to 56 in August from 54.2 in July, highest since November 2018. Anything above 50 signals growth, and U.S. manufacturing has been expanding for three straight months.

The reading was bigger than economists had forecast.

The survey showed that manufacturing contracted in March, April and May before resuming growth in June.

The survey measures the change in manufacturing activity, not the level of that activity. So even though factories are growing again, they have not regained the ground they lost in the spring

Tesla wants to sell up to 10 million shares

A day after its 5-for-1 stock split took effect, Tesla announced plans to sell up to $5 billion worth of common shares.

The electric car and solar panel maker said in a filing with securities regulators that it intends to sell up to 10.03 million shares and use the proceeds for unspecified general corporate purposes.

The sales would be made “from time to time” and Tesla says the actual amount of the offering can’t be determined at present.

Tesla shares fell more than 2% in trading Tuesday after the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It closed Monday at $498.32. Any stock sales would likely dilute the value of current shareholders’ investments.

Construction spending sees 1st increase since pandemic began

U.S. construction spending edged up a tiny 0.1% in July, breaking a string of losses due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Commerce Department reported that the slight July gain followed a 0.5% decline in June. In July, spending on residential construction rose a solid 2.1% while nonresidential construction fell by 1%.

The 0.1% July gain was weaker than the 1% increase that many economists had been forecasting. Still, home sales have been strong after an initial hit from the pandemic, and the hope is that those gains will help lift housing construction in the months ahead.

Most of misdirected stimulus checks have been recovered

The Trump administration said it has recovered almost 70% of $1.6 billion in relief payments mistakenly sent to dead people as the government rushed out stimulus money to blunt the economic impact of the coronavirus, according to a government watchdog.

The Government Accountability Office, in a brief update of its work to monitor the federal pandemic response, also said that as of the end of June the federal government still had about half of the $2.6 trillion that Congress approved in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Monday’s filing followed a June report that concluded the government’s quick action to issue stimulus payments led to more than a billion dollars of misdirected payments.

From wire reports