Carrie Tolstedt, former head of Wells Fargo’s community banking division, was sentenced to three years’ probation, including six months’ home confinement, last week for her role in the bank’s 2016 scandal in which more than two million credit cards and bank accounts were created for existing customers without their knowledge.
Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT – Sep 19 2023
MANHATTAN’S APARTMENT RENTS AT RECORD HIGH
The median apartment rent in New York City’s Manhattan borough remained at $4,370 in August, maintaining the record set in the month before, according to brokerage Douglas Elliman and appraisal firm Miller Samuel.
RECESSION COMING? RETAILERS HIRING FEWEST SEASONAL WORKERS SINCE PANIC OF ‘08
U.S. retailers plan to hire the smallest number of seasonal workers since 2008 because of higher labor costs and uncertainty over consumers’ holiday spending, according to a report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CGC) obtained by Reuters.
WORLD’S LARGEST LITHIUM DEPOSIT DISCOVERED IN NEVADA. BIG DEAL?
Inside an extinct Nevada volcano, geologists have found what may be the world’s largest lithium deposit, which they estimate to be between 20 and 40 million tons.
DRIVERS DROPPING AUTO INSURANCE
In this year’s second half, the share of U.S. households with at least one uninsured vehicle rose from 5.2 percent to 5.7 percent, data service J.D. Power reported.
MORTGAGE RATES UP. WHAT’S NEXT?
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s high interest rates, abetted by inflation, are keeping U.S. mortgage interest rates above 7 percent.
U.S. CONSUMERS CONTINUE TO PILE UP HUGE CREDIT CARD DEBTS
U.S. households added $43 billion to their credit cards in this year’s second quarter, according to WalletHub.
RETAIL SALES ROSE IN AUGUST THANKS TO RISING OIL PRICES
Retail sales ticked up 0.6 percent in August from July as consumers were forced to pay more for heating oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel. Wholesale prices for gasoline leaped up 20 percent, year on year, jet fuel 23.6 percent, and diesel 41.1 percent.
IS INFLATION HEADING BACK HIGHER?
In August, U.S. inflation moved up to 3.7 percent after registering 3.2 percent in July. It was the first month-to-month increase in a year.
U.S. CONSUMER INFLATION, WHOLESALE PRICES SPEED UP IN AUGUST
U.S. inflation rose from July’s 3.2 percent annually to 3.7 percent in August, driven higher by rising gasoline prices, the U.S. labor department reported. Analysts had expected the figure to rise to 3.6 percent.