Category: Markets and Macro

Buying warehouse space to expand its detention capacity has cost U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement $1.07 billion for 11 facilities, and the agency now plans to sell seven of them after already absorbing more than $20 million in costs it cannot recover, the Government Accountability Office found. GAO’s September 24 report ties the spending to…

Real median household income reached $87,460 in 2025, the highest level on record since the Census Bureau began tracking the measure in 1967, the agency reported Sept. 15. That figure is up 2.6% from $85,210 the year before, and it already accounts for inflation, meaning households typically had more actual buying power in 2025 than…

Customs duty collections fell 59% in August compared with a year earlier, a $17 billion drop, as refunds tied to a tariff program the Supreme Court struck down continued to flow, the Congressional Budget Office said in its September 9 Monthly Budget Review. The decline follows the Court’s February 20 ruling in Learning Res., Inc….

Net interest on the federal debt reached $1.052 trillion in the first 11 months of fiscal year 2026, up 12% from the same period a year earlier, the Congressional Budget Office said in its September 9 Monthly Budget Review. The $111 billion increase reflects a larger outstanding debt and higher long-term interest rates, partly offset…

For the first time since the H-1B visa lottery began, an employer’s odds of winning a slot depended on the wage it planned to pay rather than chance alone, under a Department of Homeland Security rule finalized in December 2025. Registrations for fiscal year 2027, the first cycle run under that wage-weighted system, dropped by…

China has committed to import at least 10 million metric tons of U.S. coal in 2027 and again in 2028, the White House said in a fact sheet issued September 25 during this week’s state visit by China’s leadership. The pledge is one piece of a broader trade understanding reached through the U.S.-China Board of…

Year-ahead inflation expectations jumped to 4.6% in September from 4.0% in August, the highest reading since June, the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers reported in its final monthly release. Longer-run expectations, which look out five to ten years, held steadier at 3.4%. The year-ahead figure reflects what survey respondents themselves believe prices will do…

The University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers closed September at 48.1, the lowest reading in four months, down from 51.7 in August. Survey director Joanne Hsu said the final number extends a decline that has now pulled the index 15% below where it stood in January 2026. The reading confirms a preliminary September estimate that…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 479 points (478.64, up 0.93%) to close at 51,828.62 — 51,828 in round numbers — on Friday, September 25, snapping a three-week losing streak, according to Yahoo Finance’s market recap and TheStreet’s daily markets report. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also finished higher on the day, adding 0.51%…

Consular officers abroad processed nearly 97% fewer H-1B visa requests this year than before the Trump administration’s renewed crackdown took hold, the White House said in a fact sheet issued September 18. The administration credits the drop to a $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions, tighter coordination among the State Department, the Department of Homeland…