The state of the union is... anxious. President Biden is set to deliver his first SOTU address Tuesday, at a critical moment when his approval ratings have plunged. While he may talk about the war in Ukraine and his domestic successes (think: $1T infrastructure bill, vaccination rate), inflation is what’s top of mind for many Americans. Biden will likely underscore the strong labor market — a record 6.6M jobs were added since he took office — while acknowledging that high prices are hurting wallets. FYI: We'll get an update on the employment picture with Friday’s jobs report.
Speed bump... Plans to electrify US delivery fleets are stuck in first gear. Last week USPS said it would buy $6B of mostly gas-guzzling mail trucks, ignoring the White House’s call for it to go electric. In the private sector, Amazon, Walmart, FedEx, and UPS have set goals to go all EV by 2040, but the transition has been wobbly (blame supply constraints). Amazon ordered 100K electric vans from Rivian, but their ETA has been delayed to 2030. FedEx also plans to buy 100% EVs, but not until 2030.