US GDP grew at an annualized rate of 6.9% in the fourth quarter of 2021 and 5.7% for the full year as the economy recovered from pandemic-induced contraction in 2020. The Department of Commerce also reported on February core inflation, which rose by 6.4% compared with a year ago, the largest such increase since January 1982.

Large majorities of supply chain professionals responding to a survey by MHI and Deloitte say they expect to adopt cloud computing, automatic identification technology, inventory and network optimization tools, and robotics and automation over the next five years. Almost 80% said the pandemic sped up changes to supply chains.

Distributors can give customers a truly omnichannel buying experience and improve profitability by using artificial intelligence tools in outside sales, inside sales, e-commerce and customer service, writes Benj Cohen of Proton.ai. Such tools help salespeople and customer service representatives be more efficient and grow sales by sharing data, Cohen writes.

Online content can play a valuable role in helping sales professionals build relationships with prospects, writes Colleen Francis. Share original material, relevant content provided by others and posts written by prospects to improve engagement, Francis advises.

Data-driven digital strategies are the future of business-to-business marketing, writes Plante Moran Chief Marketing Officer Marten van Pelt, who advises B2B marketers to invest in data-enabled modeling to target campaigns. Pelt explains a range of tools to help B2B marketers with "identifying potential customers at a granular level, tracking their online activity and influencing their journeys toward purchases."

The Senate rejected the nomination of David Weil to lead the Wage and Hour Division of the Labor Department in a 53-47 vote. Weil, who served in the role from 2014-17, was opposed by business groups including the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.

Long- and short-term business goals should be ranked by urgency, formulated in collaboration with employees and other stakeholders and include meaningful metrics to measure outcomes, Mary Ellen Slayter advises. "Company leaders need to be able to see the progress teams are making toward larger goals and hold the right people accountable for failure to meet those expectations," Slayter writes.