Tuesday’s business headlines

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Here’s a look at Tuesday’s business headlines.

Rent

Nationally, monthly rents are finally growing faster than their pre-COVID rates, driving rental prices to their highest point in 27 months.

Prior to the pandemic, rents in the 50 largest metro areas were growing by 3.2% year-over-year. That growth slowed throughout the pandemic. However, as of May 2021, the median national rent reached $1,527, up 5.5% year-over-year. Rents have fully recovered in many of the nation’s largest cities, according to Realtor.com.

Netflix

Netflix has struck a deal with filmmaker Steven Spielberg.

The streaming giant has announced an agreement to have multiple new films made by Spielberg’s production company, Amblin Partners.

The studio will make multiple films for Netflix over the agreement.

ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil is preparing to reduce headcount at its U.S. offices by between 5% and 10% annually for the next three to five years.

This will be mostly white collar workers.

Bloomberg reports the cuts will target the lowest-rated employees relative to peers, and for that reason, will not be characterized as layoffs.

Microsoft

Microsoft has got big plans. It’s been looking at health care in the hope that technology could play a role in helping to address some of the health industry’s most pressing problems.

With the virtual-physical separation in mind, Microsoft launched its first vertical cloud product, Cloud for Healthcare, late last year. The software has an emphasis on features for telehealth for companies more used to providing face-to-face coverage.