“Some 65 cargo ships have been forced to queue outside two of America’s biggest ports, in the latest sign of supply chain disruption hitting the US.

The ships are stuck outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, which handle 40% of all cargo containers entering the country. Before Covid, it was unusual for more than one to wait for a berth. The backlog is linked to surging demand for imports as the US economy has reopened. Retailers and manufacturers have rushed to place orders and restock their inventories, but the global shipping system is struggling to keep up. It’s contributed to shortages of children’s toys, timber, new clothes and pet food, while also pushing up consumer prices. Gene Seroka, head of the Port of LA, last week warned that a “significant volume” of cargo was “headed our way throughout this year and into 2022”.

“We continue to monitor a host of variables; disruptions continue at every node in the supply chain,” he said.”

Goldman Sachs: Bank boss rejects work from home as the ‘new normal’

Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon has rejected remote working as a “new normal” and labelled it an “aberration” instead.

Mr Solomon said the investment bank had operated throughout 2020 with “less than 10% of our people” in the office. His eagerness for workers to return to the office is at odds with many other firms, who have suggested that working from home could become permanent. Mr Solomon suggested that it does not suit the work culture at Goldman Sachs.

“I do think for a business like ours, which is an innovative, collaborative apprenticeship culture, this is not ideal for us. And it’s not a new normal. It’s an aberration that we’re going to correct as soon as possible,” he told a conference on Wednesday. In particular he was worried about an incoming “class” of about 3,000 new recruits, who wouldn’t get the “direct mentorship” they need.

“I am very focused on the fact that I don’t want another class of young people arriving at Goldman Sachs in the summer remotely,” he said.

Although he thought the Covid-19 pandemic had helped push the adoption of digital technologies and created ways for the investment bank to run more efficiently, Mr Solomon thought it would not lead to huge changes over the longer term.