Dick’s Sporting Goods and Macy’s are two of many major retailers hiring fewer seasonal workers this year, indicating a gloomy outlook for what traditionally is retailers’ make-or-break selling period.
Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT – Oct 17 2023
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WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS STILL STRUGGLING AMID U.S. JOBS BOOM
Although the U.S. economy added a startling 336,000 jobs last month, most of the gains were in just three sectors: government, health care, and leisure and hospitality, according to labor department figures.
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BIG BANKRUPTCIES SHOCK THE ECONOMY
Corporate bankruptcies are increasing, as we noted in “Corporate Bankruptcies Could Reach 13-Year High” (26 Sep 2023). Even more worrying, a larger number of very big businesses are going bust.
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MORTGAGE RATES RISE TO 23-YEAR HIGH
Last week, the mortgage interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.57 percent, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac), up from 7.49 percent the week before.
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TROUBLE AHEAD? U.S. CONSUMERS CUT BACK ON CREDIT CARD SPENDING
Consumers charged 11 percent less to their credit cards in September than they did in August, marking the fourth consecutive month of declining charges and the largest monthly drop this year, Citi reported.
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INFLATION LARGELY UNCHANGED IN SEPTEMBER
Consumer prices grew by 0.4 percent in September from August and 3.7 percent on the year, the U.S. Labor Department reported. Dow Jones had estimated 0.3 and 3.6 percent, respectively.
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CONSUMER SENTIMENT FLOPS IN OCTOBER
Consumers’ pessimism about the economy has grown significantly this month, according to the University of Michigan’s monthly survey of consumer sentiment.
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U.S. DEBT NOT SUSTAINABLE
The U.S. government’s $33-trillion debt is the result of “unsustainable” fiscal policies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned, and is the “most worrying” among the world’s major economies, IMF research director Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said in a 3 October press briefing.
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INVESTORS BETTING THAT FED WILL NOT RAISE INTEREST RATES
At the last meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate-setting Open Market Committee, a majority predicted the central bank would need to hike rates again when it meets at the end of this month.
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NEW TREASURY ISSUES FLOOD AN ALREADY STRAINED BOND MARKET
The U.S. treasury borrowed another $1 trillion in this year’s third quarter, straining a bond market already reeling from a crash not seen in decades.