• From the Associated Press:
"Fewer Americans applied for jobless claims last week as the labor market continues to thrive despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool the economy and tamp down inflation.
"Applications for jobless claims in the US for the week ending March 11 fell by 20,000 to 192,000 from 212,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday.
"The four-week moving average of claims, which flattens out some of week-to-week volatility, fell by 750 to 196,500, remaining below the 200,000 threshold for the eighth straight week."
• From the New York Times:
"HelloFresh, the German meal kit company, announced it would stop using coconut milk from Thailand this year, after allegations by the animal rights advocacy group PETA of the use of forced monkey labor in the coconut industry there.
"Abby Dreher, a spokeswoman for HelloFresh, confirmed that 'out of an abundance of caution' the company had decided not to buy coconut milk from Thailand starting later this year. The decision was made in December and was made public last week.
Walmart, Costco and other large American retailers have halted sales of Chaokoh coconut milk, a Thai brand, but HelloFresh has pledged to stop using coconut milk from Thailand entirely."
The Times writes that "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals published a report in November claiming monkeys were being abused at dozens of coconut retrieval operations that it said its investigators had visited in nine provinces in Thailand. PETA has long claimed that monkeys in Thailand are forced to climb tall trees for hours and to pick coconuts that will be used to make products such as coconut milk, flour and oil … PETA also claims that young monkeys are taken from their families to support the harvest. Abducting a wild animal is illegal in Thailand. The Thai government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday."
