would be retrospect and some his work and a few days over the country. the libraryay have brunch with his passing, but his work as a link between classic directors of the studio era and the institutes of modern life is for anyone who cares to read or to watch. >> thank you very much indeed for sharing that with us. frustration at the covid pandemic and the lockdown have tested as people around the globe. not least parents who have to constantly cook and clean. spending more time than usual at home. one woman in the u.k. has finally hit her limit and has gone on strike. charli james tells us more. reporter: for many families, like during the covid pandemic, it's what like an endless grade of housework would week, one mom called herself -- one mom decided she had enough and started documenting her cleaning strike.

>> every time i am in here, i want to die a little bit. reporter: she said she wanted to see how long it would take for her husband to notice temperatures in. she insisted she wasn't going to blink first. dishes piled in the kitchen. laundry stayed on the floor. bathroom supplies ran out. dozens followed along on twitter as she documented the standoff and as the house grew messier and messier. her chronicles were humorous, but underscore a salient point. in most households, women shoulder the majority of the daily home and childcare labor. it's magnified to bring the covid pandemic with work and school often being done from home. her strike didn't end perfectly. after three days, her husband did eventually help. >> the dishwasher has been loaded, but not switched on. reporter: the sink was left filled with po and dirty water. >> it is the swamp sink.

reporter: but she relished at the small victories and the house finally being clean again. >> we heard the u.s. president striking a rather optimistic note about the u.s. economy. let's get some analysis from catherine bennett, from our business desk. the president said economic forecasters are predicting growth in the region of 6% and the year 2021 -- in the year 2021. does it sound likely to you? >> it does sound likely and might be an understatement. the federal reserve expected growth of 6.5% this year. some forecasters are placing their bets a little higher around 7%. @ we are already seeing the beginning of that now. new data shows gdp in the u.s. grew 4.3% in the final three months of 2020. that's actually higher than analysts expected. for the current quarter, economists are predicting growth

of over 5%. it can be better to look at jobs data to get a clearer idea of where the u.s. economy might be headed. the latest data shows the jobs market is moving again. the number of people seeking out employment benefits fell sharply last week to 684,000. that is the lowest number of claimants since the pandemic began. it certainly is a good sign the economy is improving. we can now take a look at the markets on thursday. perhaps after that positive jobs data. the dow jones and s&p 500 are up over half a percent. the nasdaq is staying fairly solidly around the flatline. european stocks closed mixed on thursday. covid-19 cases continue to search in the region -- surge in the region. the ftse is down by more than half a percent. others closing in positive territory. many of us will have seen photos

of the enormous cargo ship stuck in the suez canal. rescuers have warned it could remain blocked for weeks. that could have a significant impact on global trade. it is hard to overemphasize just how important this waterway is for trade. about till percent of the world's seaborne trade goes through there. -- around 12% of the world's seaborne trade goes through their. -- there. normally, more than 50 ships pass through the suez canal everyday. when it is blocked, this is the alternative. a route that goes all the way around the african continent, adding 6000 commenters to the journey. -- kilometers to the journey. what does that mean for the shoes he ordered online? it could make the supply chain even longer. on top of strains and supply chains already caused by covid 19. it could create further delivery delays. there's one market that is set to make a profit from the fiasco. that is freight. freight companies will be able

to charge more to get goods from point a to point b simply because it is going to take so much longer. nike, adidas, and h&m are some of the brands cut up into blue medic runs between china and the u.s., facing consumer boycotts in china because of comments of human rights abuses in the country. the chinese minister of commerce says but he avoid politicizing business. reporter: nike and h&m are feeling the heat in china. some of the country's most popular e-commerce platforms, dropping this wish retailer. celebrities have canceled contracts with the brands. consumers are boycotting them. >> [speaking native language] >> [speaking native language]

reporter: at the heart of this, statements addressing allegations of forced labor and sean junk. -- in sean john. it is one of the world's top producers of cotton. it supplies many clothing brands with textiles. some firms have set to distance themselves from the region's cotton, angering china. >> [speaking native language] reporter: china was the only major economy to expand last year. sales losses there could hurt western demand at a time when it

remains weak. greater china is also among 90's fastest growing region -- nike's fastest growing regions. >> thursday, britain and the u.s. announced sanctions against myanmar's conglomerate owned by the military junta. they control significant segments of the country's economy to these two holding firms. any property of those groups in the u.s. is now blocked. international pressure against the military regime has so far mostly been ignored. the u.s. and the u.k. are hoping hitting them where it hurts may have more of an effect. the u.s. treasury said it was deliberately targeting a vital financial lifeline for the military junta. that wraps up the business for me. >> thank you very much, catherine bennett. that is it for me as well. i will be back here in a couple of minutes.

don't go away. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

/b 03/25/21 03/25/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> 657 u.s. yen there's, combin wealth go up to $1.3 trillion for combined wealth of

$4.2 trillion total. they have benefited from other peopleuffering. these are the pandemic profiteers. amy: a year of pain for so many has seen massive gains for a select few billionaires.