A11
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2021
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DOW
30,391.60 +167.71
BRIEFING
Amazon buys 11 jets
for speedy delivery
Amazon said Tuesday
it bought 11 jets from
Delta and WestJet airlines
to boost its growing de-
livery network and get or-
ders to shoppers faster.
The company said
it’s the first time it has
purchased planes for its
delivery network. Over
the past couple of years,
Amazon has been leasing
planes to build its fleet.
“Having a mix of both
leased and owned air-
craft in our growing fleet
allows us to better man-
age our operations,” said
Sarah Rhoads, vice pres-
ident of Amazon Global
Air, in a blog post.
Seattle-based Ama-
zon has been working to
deliver most of its pack-
ages itself and rely less
on UPS, the U.S. Postal
Service and other carriers.
Besides its fleet of planes,
Amazon has also built
several package-sorting
hubs at airports, opened
warehouses closer to
where shoppers live and
launched a program that
lets contractors start busi-
nesses delivering pack-
ages in vans stamped
with the Amazon logo.
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The Oregon Employment De-
partment said Monday it has be-
gun paying a $300 weekly unem-
ployment bonus that Congress
authorized last month as part of
a $900 billion coronavirus relief
package.
Congress first approved a $600
weekly unemployment bonus last
March. The program expired in July
and was replaced briefly with a $300
weekly bonus from federal disaster
funds.
That, too, lapsed, ending the sup-
plemental payments while Congress
was deadlocked over the scale of
any additional relief program. Re-
publicans and Democrats compro-
mised on the $900 billion package
at the end of last month and Pres-
ident Donald Trump — after de-
crying the congressional package
— backed down and signed the bill
on Dec. 27.
A day earlier, benefits had expired
for 72,000 Oregonians who were re-
ceiving benefits through temporary
programs for the self-employed or
were on a program that extended
their benefits eligibility. Congress
extended most of those programs,
too.
The employment department,
relying on an obsolete computer
Some find federal
relief checks sent
to wrong account
system, was unable to pay benefits
to hundreds of thousands of job-
less Oregonians during the early
months of the pandemic. But the
new payments funded last month
simply restore programs that had
lapsed and payments are flowing
much more smoothly this time.
However, the employment de-
partment warned last week that
some more complicated programs
may require additional computer
programming that could delay ben-
efits to about 1,500 self-employed
Oregonians nearing the end of their
46 weeks of eligibility.
Congress funded the new, $300
weekly benefits through March 13.
BY SARAH SKIDMORE SELL
Associated Press
A number of taxpayers who use tax
preparation services, such as H&R Block
and TurboTax, say their second relief
payments were sent to incorrect bank ac-
counts, forcing them to wait longer .
The IRS and the Treasury Department
began issuing the economic impact pay-
ments last week. The payment is $600
for each eligible adult and dependent for
people earning up to $75,000, or $150,000
for married couples filing jointly. Those
earning more than that are eligible for a
reduced payment.
See Payments / A12
PORTLAND
Landmark
Pittock
building
sells for
$326M
No support animals
on American flights
American Airlines is
banning emotional-sup-
port animals in a move
that will force most own-
ers to pay extra if they
want their pets to travel
with them.
The airline said Tues-
day it will allow animals
in the cabin free of charge
only if they are trained
service dogs.
The move is likely to
be copied by other carri-
ers. The U.S. Transporta-
tion Department cleared
the way for the crack-
down against companion
animals last month.
American said passen-
gers with a service dog
will need to complete a
government form vouch-
ing for the dog’s health,
training and tempera-
ment.
Other animals, includ-
ing dogs not trained as
service dogs, will only be
able to fly in the cargo
hold or a kennel that fits
under a seat in the cabin.
Either way, American will
collect a pet fee ranging
from $125 to several hun-
dred dollars.
Jessica Tyler, Ameri-
can’s president of cargo,
said the rules will help
passengers with service
animals and protect em-
ployees on planes and in
airports.
U.S. factory growth
fastest in 2 years
American factories
grew in December at the
fastest pace in more than
two years as manufactur-
ing continued to weather
the pandemic better than
the battered services
sector.
The Institute for Supply
Management reported
Tuesday that its gauge of
manufacturing activity
rose to 60.7% last month,
the highest reading since
it stood at 60.8 in August
2018. The gauge was up
3.2 percentage points
from a November level
of 57.5.
Any reading above
50 indicates expansion
in the manufacturing
sector.
The U.S. economy col-
lapsed from April through
June but since that time
manufacturing has
posted solid gains, while
the services sector, which
includes restaurants, bars
and the travel industry,
has been harder hit.
— Bulletin wire reports
EURO
$1.2303 +.0051
COVID-19 aid
Oregon begins paying $300
weekly unemployment bonus
BY MIKE ROGOWAY
The Oregonian
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$27.57 +.29
BY MIKE ROGOWAY
The Oregonian
Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune file
Paul Becvar, 38, prepares to buy a weapon from Barry Torphy, owner of Bat Arms gun store in Plano, Illinois, in March.
FAIR ACCESS
OR FORCED
BANKING?
all Street banks
are asking a key
regulator to drop
a proposed rule
that would force them to do
business with energy and fire-
arms companies that could
subject them to public scorn,
questioning the legal basis for
a measure they say is being un-
fairly fast-tracked.
The “fair access” rule pro-
posed by the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency
on Nov. 20 would create undue
burdens for lenders and could
threaten their business models,
banking industry groups said in
comment letters to the agency.
The industry groups also chal-
W
See Pittock / A12
Homebuyers
face worst
affordability
squeeze
in 12 years
Banks blast federal rule that would
force lending to gun and oil firms
BY JESSE HAMILTON
Bloomberg News
The Pittock Block, a
downtown Portland land-
mark that serves as the city’s
primary telecommunications
nexus, has sold for $326 mil-
lion.
The deal underscores the
value of communications
infrastructure and contin-
ued interest in downtown
real estate. The historic,
302,000-square-foot building
is a networking hub for many
telecom providers, a data cen-
ter and has expansive office
space.
Alco Investment Com-
pany, which bought the site
in 1986 and rehabilitated it,
sold the eight-story building
to a pair of real estate firms
— Harrison Street and 1547
Critical Systems Realty.
The site, at the corner of
SW Ninth and Washington,
was once home to former
Oregonian publisher Henry
Pittock, for whom the build-
ing is named. Completed at
a cost of $1 million in 1914,
the building housed Port-
land’s first electrical substa-
tion in its basement.
lenged OCC’s authority to issue
the rule and argued that the 45-
day comment period that ended
Monday gave them insufficient
time to respond.
Brian Brooks, the OCC’s in-
terim chief, wants to bar banks
from refusing to serve legal busi-
nesses — such as those in the oil,
prison and firearms industries —
that they might otherwise avoid
because of the potential for rep-
utational harm. The OCC’s ef-
fort was initiated after Republi-
can lawmakers complained about
banks declining to finance energy
projects, citing climate-change
concerns. Lenders including Citi-
group Inc. and Bank of America
Corp. have also limited ties to the
gun industry.
BY PRASHANT GOPAL
Bloomberg
See Banking / A12
Bloomberg file photo
Record-low mortgage
rates were supposed to make
it easier for homebuyers. In-
stead, they’ve helped push
affordability to a 12-year
low.
Buyers in the fourth quar-
ter needed to spend almost
30% of the average wage to
afford a typical house, the
biggest share for any three-
month period since 2008,
according to preliminary fig-
ures from Attom Data Solu-
tions.
Low borrowing costs, now
below 3% for a 30-year loan,
have spurred a buying frenzy,
driving up prices across the
country as shoppers com-
pete for a shrinking supply of
listings.
See Homebuying / A12