Afternoon Coffee: Unemployment claims fall to lowest point since November; Chicken wing shortage ahead of Super Bowl; PRO recap: Globality, direct procurement, ContractAI, M&A integration

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The Labor Department reported on Thursday that first-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 779,000 last week, which registered less than expected, according to CNBC.

This reading was the lowest since Nov. 28 as the US economy continues the slow recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The total represented a drop of 33,000 from the previous week’s count of 812,000. In more encouraging news, continuing claims continue to lower, falling 193,000 from the previous reporting of 4.6 million, the article said.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported on Friday that US employers added only 49,000 nonfarm jobs in January — a lukewarm gain that shows the pandemic still holds a tight grip on the economy. The unemployment rate for January registered 6.3%.

Chicken wing shortage ahead of Super Bowl Sunday

Just days before the Super Bowl, food service providers are scrambling to procure (and paying top dollar for) a coveted sporting event item: chicken wings. According to the Washington Post, there is a chicken wing shortage.

The market is usually dominated by the sports calendar — with consumption and sales peaking right before the Super Bowl in February and before the start of the NCAA March Madness tournament. Prices will ebb and flow with these schedules, spiking before competition and flowing lower the rest of the year, the article said.

But like everything else in the supply chain in the last year, chicken wing prices have floated higher for months during the Covid-19 pandemic. Demand has changed and been unpredictable. The shortage is less on the producers of wings, but rather consumers who want more and more wings to eat, the article said.

“What’s been really strange about this year is it’s actually been really strong since late summer, the demand for wings,” Christine McCracken, executive director of animal protein at Rabobank, told the Washington Post. “And that’s made it a bit harder for people who didn’t have a plan going into [the Super Bowl] or are trying to catch up with demand.”

Spend Matters' analysts look at Globality, direct procurement, ContractAI and M&A technology integration

This week, Spend Matters PRO analyst Andrew Karpie caught up with Globality Chief Revenue Officer Keith Hausmann to see how the company is doing after securing new investments. Analyst Pierre Mitchell gave us an introduction and framework for digitizing direct procurement processes. Also, Nick Heinzmann provided a vendor analysis of ContractAI, a contract lifecycle management provider. Finally, analysts Michael Lamoureux and Jason Busch analyzed the five levels of M&A technology integration with insight on Stage 4 UX integration.

Our PRO subscribers can read the full articles, but all readers can see the lengthy intros that frame the issues being discussed. This week:

• What’s behind the investment in Globality’s services sourcing solution?
• Defining and digitizing direct procurement (Part 1) — Introduction and framework
• ContractAI (App Orchid): Vendor Analysis — Solution overview for contract analytics and negotiation, ContractAI competitors, roadmap, customer feedback, analyst insights
• The 5 Levels of M&A Technology Integration: Stage 4 UX Integration/Replication

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