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A gauge of U.S. consumer sentiment unexpectedly increased in early December to the second-highest level since March, amid prospects for a vaccine coming soon to tame the pandemic.

WASHINGTON — The head of the Food and Drug Administration says his agency has told Pfizer that it “will rapidly work” to grant emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine following a positive recommendation by government advisers.

The Senate passed a one-week government spending bill and President Donald Trump signed it Dec. 11, averting a government shutdown.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told a congressional oversight committee that the federal government has made money on a $700 million loan it extended to YRC Worldwide under a coronavirus relief package for businesses that were deemed essential in fighting the pandemic.

The Indiana Department of Transportation and Gov. Eric Holcomb announced that local government agencies have received a combined $101 million in state matching funds to support road and bridge projects.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has named one of California’s utility-company regulators to lead the state agency that fights air pollution and climate change.

The White House has held multiple discussions on reopening travel to the U.S. from the U.K. and other European countries and Brazil, even amid a surge in coronavirus cases, according to people familiar with the matter.

For the trucking and logistics industry, the challenges of COVID-19 vaccine distribution are just beginning. Hundreds of millions of doses will need to be shipped around the world and in the United States, and the process is just now getting underway.

A U.S. government advisory panel convened Dec. 10 to decide whether to endorse mass use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to help conquer the outbreak that has killed close to 300,000 Americans.

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits surged last week, topping estimates with the highest level since September, suggesting that widening business shutdowns to curb the pandemic are spurring fresh job losses.