Email Toilet paper makers are downplaying fears of a strike-related shortage like the run on the bathroom commodity during the pandemic (above). File/Staff Story continues below In the most recent recall, the company notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the display screens in effected trucks may remain blank for up to 8 seconds after a driver shifts to reverse. The U.S. requires those screens to activate with a rearview within 2 seconds of shifting into reverse. More in US seek jobless aid last week WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose modestly last week but remains at healthy levels. The Labor Department reported Oct. 3 that applications for jobless claims rose by 6,000 to 225,000 for the week of Sept. 28. It was slightly more than the 221,000 analysts were expecting. The four-week average of claims, which evens out some of weekly volatility, fell by 750 to 224,250. Applications for jobless benefits are widely considered representative of U.S. layoffs in a given week. Thursday’s report said that the total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits was down by 1,000 to about 1.83 million for the week of Sept. 21. US bans new types of goods from China WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security has announced that it would ban the import of goods from a Chinese steel manufacturer and a Chinese maker of artificial sweetener. The agency on Oct. 2 accused the companies of being involved in the use of forced labor from the far-west region of Xinjiang. Baowu Group Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. and Changzhou Guanghui Food Ingredients Co. Ltd. were newly added to the list. The action broadens the scope of a U.S. effort to clean up supply chains, It comes under a law that President Joe Biden signed in late 2021 that followed allegations of human rights abuses by Beijing against members of Muslin minorities. The Chinese government has refuted the claims as lies.