More nonstop flights added to region’s airports

The two Columbus airports now offer nearly 50 nonstop flights to destinations around the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

That list expanded during the COVID pandemic, with the recent addition of 22 nonstop flights from John Glenn Columbus International Airport and Rickenbacker International Airport.

Many of the flights depart to tourist destinations like Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head Island, Palm Beach, Panama City, or Cancun.

Nonstop flights to major cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Dallas, and also available. Not all of the flights are available every day, and some are only offered on a seasonal basis.

The major challenges to the economy and corporate profits that investors navigated in 2021 remain potential headwinds in the new year, including the viral pandemic. Wall Street has been busy since December monitoring the latest wave of cases with the omicron variant.

Businesses and consumers are also still dealing with supply chain problems and persistently rising inflation that has made a wide range of goods more expensive. The rising costs could threaten to crimp consumer spending and weaken

economic growth.

While the strength in technology companies drove the S&P 500 overall higher Monday, the number of stocks in the index that rose was just about even with decliners.

Health care companies fell broadly and kept gains elsewhere in the market in check. Pfizer shed 4.1% despite news that the U.S. expanded use its COVID-19 booster shots for kids as young as 12.

Industrial stocks also fell. Union Pacific, a railroad operator, slid 1.7%.

Gold for February delivery fell $28.50 to $1,800.10 an ounce. Silver for March delivery fell 54 cents to $22.81 an ounce, and March copper fell 4 cents to $4.42 a pound.

The dollar rose to 115.34 Japanese yen from 115.09 yen. The euro fell to $1.1298 from $1.1383.

The big event on the economic calendar this week is the Labor Department’s jobs report on Friday.