What's going on?

Uber posted strong quarterly results on Wednesday, after the ride-hailing app did whatever it took to get this show on the road.

What does this mean?

Uber�s a weird beast: the company is made up of a �delivery� segment � think Uber Eats � that benefited from lockdowns, and a �mobility� segment � its ride-hailing app � that didn�t. But both emerged from the pandemic stronger than ever, with the value of bookings from its mobility segment up 58% last quarter on the same time last year, and those from its delivery segment up 12%. The company even said it saw more worldwide ride-hailing bookings last month than it did in April 2019, which might be why it reckons it�s on track to return to pre-pandemic levels later this year.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Uber sweetens the deal.
Uber and rival Lyft have been struggling to hire enough drivers to keep up with this rebounding demand, which has left them trying to win new starters over with higher wages and trip-based bonuses. The two are taking very different approaches from here on out, mind you. Lyft said earlier this week that it�s planning to keep forking out on incentives � an admission that didn�t exactly play well with the company�s investors. Uber, for its part, is opting for a cheaper tactic: it�s planning to improve the drivers� in-app experience instead. Tough choice.

Zooming out: Here comes another rate hike.
Uber�s hiring issues aren�t a surprise: data out this week showed there were 5.6 million more US job openings than there were jobseekers in March (tweet this). That�ll only force companies to keep offering higher wages to stand out, with the extra disposable income bound to drive inflation even higher. So it stands to reason that the Federal Reserve is stepping in: the central bank increased interest rates by 0.5% on Wednesday � the biggest hike since 2000 � and said it�ll start reducing some of its $9 trillion worth of bonds next month.