The American Bankers Association joined the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the Bank Policy Institute, the Financial Services Forum and the Investment Company Institute in a letter to congressional leaders supporting action to raise the federal debt ceiling “without delay.”
According to proprietary Deutsche Bank attendance tracker data for Disney’s parks, attendance continues to lag pre-pandemic levels and declined in recent weeks as the spread of Delta rises.
Economic growth slowed slightly to a moderate pace from early July to August, as dining out, travel and tourism declined due to safety concerns around the rise of the COVID-19 Delta variant, according to the Federal Reserve’s sixth Beige Book release of the year.
Deposits at U.S. banks increased $228 billion (1.3%) in the second quarter, according to data from S&P Global. Seasonally adjusted deposit growth accelerated from 12.6% last quarter to 13.4%, according to data from the Federal Reserve.
In a highly anticipated speech at the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole economic symposium today, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that his agency could begin tapering its asset purchases before the end of the year, citing recent progress toward maximum employment and controlling inflation.
Continued supply-chain constraints have driven shipping costs to record highs. The average price to ship a 40-foot container from China to the East Coast of the U.S., for instance, has increased 410% year-over-year.
Slowing vaccination rates and the spread of the Delta variant pose “downside risks” to the economic outlook, according to members of the Federal Open Market Committee.
While nonfarm employment increased 943,000 in July, pushing the unemployment rate down to 5.4%, small businesses continue to report struggling to find qualified workers to fill vacancies.
Despite persistent pandemic-related uncertainties, optimism among small and middle market businesses is on the rebound, according to Umpqua Bank’s 2021 Business Barometer released today. More than half of middle market firms—55%—said they expect economic conditions to improve, up from just 33% a year ago, and 52% of small firms said they also expect improvement.
Progress on vaccinations has continued to strengthen indicators of economic activity and employment, the Federal Open Market Committee said today, adding that while the sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic have shown improvement, they have not fully recovered.