promoearn: The Daily Money: Ford, GM recall cars; did Russians hack Okta, Microsoft?

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Thursday, March 24

Subscribe to The Daily Money newsletter. Come for our roundup of each day's top stories from USA TODAY Money. Stay for the pop-culture references and financial news-inspired playlist.

Good morning and happy Thursday, Daily Money readers. Jayme Deerwester back with you. We're almost through another week. And now we have more time to play outside once we sign off. (Yeah, I'm 100% Team Daylight Savings Time.)

🗞 News you should know 🗞

The auto industry has its "hiring" signs out, but few are applying and some who do quit by lunchtime. It is a nationwide problem that's hit small mom-and-pop suppliers and reverberated to the biggest carmakers in the world.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people employed by motor vehicle and parts manufacturers declined by 3,500 in January. In February, the decrease was larger, with a decline of 18,000 jobs (both figures are seasonally adjusted).

"The evidence is clear, the auto industry and its wages are not keeping pace with the new world, so to speak," says Steve Melnyk, a business professor at Michigan State University. "With the internet and job sites such as Monster and others, potential employees are looking at the total package, and this total package does not look good for the auto industry."

Among the factors working against the industry: low starting wages, lack of job security and benefits, Melnyk explains. Plus, automakers aren't just competing with each other for talent; they are competing with other industries that are strapped by the same labor shortages, too.

🚨 More stories you shouldn't miss 🚨

CHARTER SCHOOL PPP LOANS: Critics want pandemic funds repaid.

FACEBOOK FIGHT FOR UKRAINE: 'Cyber elves' take on Russian trolls.

WHY THE BABY FORMULA RECALL HAPPENED: Abbott didn't maintain clean surfaces used in producing and handling powdered formula, per FDA.

DRIVE A FORD TRUCK? READ THIS: Automaker recalls nearly 215K F-150 trucks, Expedition, Lincoln Navigators over leaking brake fluid.

DRIVERS LICENSES ON IPHONES: Apple launches option in Arizona.

💡 Daily insight💡

Shortly after President Joe Biden sounded the alarm about possible Russian cyberattacks and urged Americans to harden their defenses, a group of hackers this week made news after targeting Microsoft and authentication service provider Okta.

Are these the attacks he was warning us about? Probably not – at least not yet, anyway, experts surmise.

"Obviously, if you just look at timing, you can be suspicious of it, but we don't see any direct links between these individual incidents, from Okta to Microsoft, and Russia," said Rick Holland, chief information security officer at the security firm Digital Shadows. "It's evolving, and things could change."

Plus, Russian hackers are probably more interested in bigger targets, says John Bambenek, principal threat hunter at the firm Netenrich. "If they launched attacks, they're going to be disruptive in nature, knocking things offline, knocking critical infrastructure offline."

⛽️ Governors take on gas prices ⛽️

Even more states are considering ways to help fight high gas prices, including a proposal unveiled by California's governor on Wednesday that would give vehicle owners in the state up to $800 as a refund for gas taxes.

In California, where gas prices are typically the highest in the nation, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed that vehicle owners get $400 on a debit card per registered vehicle, up to two per person, totaling about $9 billion. All residents, regardless of vehicle ownership, would see free public transportation for three months, Newsom said. The plan needs to be approved by the state Legislature.

Last week, Georgia and Maryland both passed bills to pause their state gas taxes of about 29 cents and 36 cents per gallon of regular gasoline, respectively. And lawmakers in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut were among those to call this week for cutting or lowering gas taxes in response to fuel prices.

💵 Tax tip 💵

The CARES Act included a special tax provision for the 2020 tax year, which allowed individual and joint filers to deduct up to $300 on donations made to eligible charities.

The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 extended this tax provision for the 2021 tax year and made an update that benefits joint tax filers.

For the 2021 tax year, you can deduct up to $300 per person for eligible charitable donations. That means a married couple filing together could deduct up to $600 of donations.

This provision applies to all taxpayers, regardless of whether they itemize.

🎧 Mood music 🎧

Today's lyric comes from Bruce Springsteen's "One Step Up": "Went out and hopped in my old Ford. Hit the engine but she ain't turnin'. We've given each other some hard lessons lately. But we ain't learnin'. We're the same sad story, that's a fact. One step up and two steps back."

LISTEN WHILE YOU WORK: Remember, you can listen to this song and every track I've quoted in the newsletter in the Daily Money Mood Music playlist on Spotify.