IMF Global Growth Projections | US Inflation Forecast | COVID-19 Pandemic New AntiRecord | H&M and Starbucks Sores

[View in browser]( [Knoema]( Greetings, {NAME}: We've talked a lot recently about the surge in online and e-commerce business during the pandemic. But we still live in the “offline world” of physical offices, restaurants, and stores, and brick-and-mortar businesses still represent a major interest for investors. Just think of giants like McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Subway, which together have more than 110 thousand locations worldwide. Knoema has a wealth of data resources to help you take the pulse of offline business today, such as alternative geo-location data that tracks customer visits. Read on to learn more! Get involved! Send us your feedback at [datadriven@knoema.com](mailto:DataDriven@knoema.com). New in Knoema’s Alt Data Catalog [Equilar]( [Equilar]( is the leading provider of corporate leadership data. Companies of all sizes rely on Equilar, including 70% of the Fortune 500 and institutional investors representing over $20 trillion in assets. Equilar collects public filings and website listings and helps businesses enhance their profiles with critical data for diversity and inclusion analysis. Interested in what Knoema can do for your organization? [Get on a Call]( From the Headlines [IMF Global Growth Projections | April Update]( [US Inflation Forecast]( [COVID-19 Pandemic Hits New Infections Record]( Data at Knoema [Press Freedom]( The World Press Freedom Index 2021, which ranks [180 countries](, found that journalism, which Reporters Without Borders calls “the main vaccine against disinformation,” is completely blocked in 73 countries and partly blocked in 59. Only 12 countries are listed as having a free and favorable environment for journalism this year. [US Census]( U.S. advance retail sales [beat market expectations]( and grew 9.8% MoM in March, against a decrease of 2.7% in February. March YoY growth was 27.7%. [BNA]( Angola's GDP showed [moderate improvements]( in Q4 of 2020, with a decline of only 5.4% YoY compared to a 6.4% YoY drop in Q3. The improvement last quarter was driven by growth in sectors such as fishing, trade, agriculture, real estate, and finance. Latest Data-Driven Insights [Number of H&M Stores Worldwide 2020]( China has boycotted H&M and other Western clothing and footwear brands in response to accusations that it uses forced labor in the Xinjiang region. In 2020, China was the second largest market for H&M. Learn more with free access to our recently updated dashboard about [H&M physical store locations]( by country. [Distribution of Visits by State Starbucks vs McDonalds]( In the US, California and Texas are the largest markets for McDonald's and Starbucks franchises in terms of the number of stores, but cell phone geo-location data from [Tamoco]( paints a more complex picture. Read more about [customer traffic at these restaurants](. [Number of Starbucks Stores Globally]( Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world. During the first quarter of 2021, Starbucks launched 278 new stores. Learn about [Starbucks' global reach]( and where the company is expanding. [More DATA-DRIVEN Insights]( Insights Around the Web [TIME]( [TIME]( has published its first-ever list of the most influential companies. The list highlights businesses that are shaping the future — “from the tech startup engineering a smarter way to recycle to the cryptocurrency firm reimagining the future of money to the pharma titans creating the vaccines.” [The Economist]( [The Economist]( finds that, perhaps surprisingly, suicide has become less common during the pandemic. Governmental financial supports may be one of the reasons why. [BloombergNEF]( “The world committed a record $501.3 billion to decarbonization in 2020, beating the previous year by 9% despite the economic disruption caused by COVID-19,” BloombergNEF finds in its [2021 Energy Transition Investment Trends]( report. [1db2adb7-c12f-4825-8c72-2bfd1e8c2798-1] Stay well. Charles Poliacof CEO, Knoema [knoema.com]( [Facebook]( [LinkedIn]( [Twitter]( Copyright © 2021 Knoema. All rights reserved. You received this email because you are a registered Knoema user. Our mailing address is: Knoema, 31 East 32nd Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10016, United States [Unsubscribe]( [Manage preferences](