wraps up ice cream from theft. aishah: shoplifters are committing crimes all over the country. you won t believe how much retail revenue has been lost to crime in 2022 alone. number will give you sticker shock. rich: welcome back as america reports rolls into a second hour. i m rich edson. aishah: even historic winter blizzard cannot stop the smash and grabs. videos all over the place appearing to show stores ransacked in buffalo, new york. we are going to have that for you all new this hour, but first this fox weather alert. no flights until the third maybe the 31st. we kept calling, you can t get through to anybody. four, maybe five cancels for the same flight. 500 people, nowhere to go. i never want to fly commercially ever, ever, ever again. rich: thousands of passengers stranded at airports across the country following the historic winter blizzard. aishah: southwest airlines is still struggling to get back on schedule, more than 90% of their fligh
rich: store owners are sounding the alarm over a nationwide surge in shoplifting. it has gotten so out of control that many shops are locking up their items, including one new york city walgreens that has put a chain lock on the ice cream freezer. lydia hu is here with more from the new york city newsroom. what items are they targeting, lydia? hi there, rich, good to see you. you may think this would be a problem at high end stores, pricey items, expensive merchandise but this is targeting every day items. manhattan walgreens has locked up candy, ice cream and even coffee creamer. retail crime is one of the top
end of its fiscal year because it s losing so much merchandise and inventory. the walmart ceo said stores could be closed if the rise in shoplifting is not curtailed. and walgreens said earlier this year, it s losing 50% more money than prior to the pandemic. what it means for us, possibly higher prices and fewer places to shop. rich: lydia, thank you. layoffs can be a key warning sign for an economy that s about to sink. a recent surge in americans losing their jobs to end the year, has many worried a recession could be around the corner. let s bring in doug holtz eakin, former director for budget office, and president of the american action forum. good to see you, welcome to the show. thanks for being with us. so you are the numbers guy, you can get into the gritty of this.