GroupM is now forecasting a 13% drop in U.S. ad expenditures for 2020 (excluding political) to about $208 billion, followed by a rebound of 4% in 2021 to $216.6 billion. According to the company’s revised ‘This Year Next Year’ forecast, the drop won’t be as sharp as the 16% drop that occurred during the 2009 financial crisis. And given that the state of the economy, driven to its worst decline since the Great Depression by the ongoing pandemic, the decline in ad spending could be a lot worse.

“FedEx operating income grew in our second quarter, driven by strong revenue growth and effective management of our cost and expected labor availability challenges,” said Michael C. Lenz, FedEx Corp. executive vice president and chief financial officer. “While adjusted earnings per share was unchanged year over year, this year’s effective tax rate was significantly higher, as last year’s earnings included a $0.71 per share tax benefit.” Second quarter operating income improved due to higher revenue per shipment at all transportation segments, despite the negative effect of labor market challenges that have contributed to global supply chain disruptions. The challenging labor market affected the availability and cost of labor resulting in network inefficiencies, higher purchased transportation costs, and higher wage rates, which increased costs by an estimated $470 million year over year, primarily at FedEx Ground. The quarter’s results also benefited from continued strategic management actions to improve revenue quality and favorable net fuel.

February bookstore sale fell 22.3% compared to 2020, according to preliminary estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The decline is higher than the 16.7% drop bookstore sales experienced in January compared to the first month of 2020. Bad weather and more store lockdowns as Covid-19 cases spread are likely reasons for the higher decline in sales. In the month, sales were $446 million, down from $573 million in February 2020. For the first two months of 2021, bookstore sales were $1.24 billion, down 18.7% from the comparable period last year. For the entire retail sector, February sales rose 2.9% and sales were up 5.3% for the first two months of 2021 over 2020.