Weekly Jobless Claims Tick Up Slightly, Remain Historically Low​​​

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits remained historically low last week, highlighting ongoing strength in the labor market, Bloomberg News reported. Initial jobless claims ticked up slightly to 207,000 in the week ending Sept. 30, according to Labor Department data out Thursday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for an increase to 210,000. Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving unemployment benefits, were also little changed at 1.7 million in the week ending Sept. 23. The resilient labor market has continued to power consumer spending in the face of high inflation and interest rates. Demand for workers remains solid, and the layoffs that made headlines earlier this year have largely eased. The monthly employment report due Friday will provide more insights into the job market. Economists anticipate slowing but still healthy growth in nonfarm payrolls. The four-week moving average of initial claims, which smooths out some of the volatility, edged down to 208,750, the lowest since February. Read more.

Final Public Hearing of ABI's Subchapter V Task Force to Take Place Next Week!​​​

The seventh and final public hearing of ABI's Subchapter V Task Force will take place during NCBJ's annual conference (Oct. 11-14 in Austin, Texas), with witness testimony provided by bankruptcy judges, practitioners and subchapter V trustees, who will share their general experiences with subchapter V. In addition to being open to all registered NCBJ attendees and guests, the live hearing will also be accessible via Zoom by registering here.

Report: U.S. Online Sales to Grow 4.8% in Crucial Holiday Season​​​

Online sales during the crucial U.S. holiday season are expected to rise 4.8% from a year earlier as retailers go all out to woo inflation-hit consumers with even bigger discounts and promotions, a report released today from Adobe Analytics showed, Reuters reported. The sales are also expected to grow at a much faster pace and hit $221.8 billion for the period between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, which includes some of the biggest shopping days such as Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving and Black Friday. That compares with $211.7 billion a year earlier. Adobe said the holiday season would see heavy discounts this year, especially in the toys, sporting goods and furniture categories, with markdowns peaking at 35%. Last month, Mastercard's SpendingPulse report forecast a 6.7% rise in online sales during the holiday season. Retailers such as Walmart, Target and Macy's prepare months in advance for the all-important season, as it brings in nearly a third of the industry's annual revenue in a good year. With Amazon.com hosting its second Prime Day sale in October, holiday shopping is expected to start as early as this month. Read more.

Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow​​​

Interest rates are up. Inflation remains high. Pandemic savings have shrunk. And the labor market is cooling. Yet household spending, the primary driver of the nation’s economic growth, remains robust. Americans spent 5.8% more in August than a year earlier, well outstripping less than 4% inflation, the Wall Street Journal reported. And the experience economy boomed this summer, with Delta Air Lines reporting record revenue in the second quarter and Ticketmaster selling over 295 million event tickets in the first six months of 2023, up nearly 18% year-over-year. Economists and financial advisers say consumers putting short-term needs and goals above long-term ones is normal. Still, this moment is different, they say. A tough housing market has more consumers writing off something they’d historically save for, while the pandemic showed the instability of any long-term plans related to health, work or day-to-day life. Consequently, they are spending on once-in-a-lifetime experiences because they worry they may not be able to do them later. (Subscription required.) Read more.

Analysis: A ‘Shadow’ Lending Market in the U.S., Funded by Insurance Premiums​​​

In 2009, as the banking business was on the verge of being reshaped by new regulations in the wake of the great financial crisis, private-equity giant Apollo Global Management found a way to make money off the retirement savings of millions of everyday Americans. Through Athene, an insurer it helped create and later merged with, Apollo acquired portfolios of annuities — a type of insurance policy that guarantees income streams, usually for retirees — from other insurers and used the premiums collected to help expand its lending businesses, from mortgages to aircraft financing, according to a New York Times analysis. Athene, which now represents about half of Apollo’s business, also issues annuities and has become the biggest U.S. issuer of such policies. Last year, it managed $236 billion of annuity policies and other securities. The firm’s innovation has spurred several copycats, transforming private-equity firms — with many rebranding themselves “alternative asset managers” — into influential players in the insurance industry. Carlyle, KKR and Blackstone are among the private-equity behemoths that have bought either stakes in other insurers or books of business from them. As of the second quarter of 2023, such firms owned nearly 9 percent, or about $774 billion, of the U.S. life insurance industry’s assets, up from just 1 percent in 2012, according to the most recent data from insurance ratings agency AM Best. Read more.

Chief Justice Names Conference Committee Chairs​​​

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., has named seven new chairs of Judicial Conference committees and extended the term of six current chairs by one year, according to a U.S. Courts press release. Click here to view the appointments that took effect Oct. 1. The 26-member Judicial Conference is the policy-making body for the federal court system. By statute, the Chief Justice of the United States serves as its presiding officer, and its members are the chief judges of the 13 courts of appeals, a district judge from each of the 12 geographic circuits and the chief judge of the Court of International Trade. The Conference meets twice a year to consider administrative and policy issues affecting the court system and to make recommendations to Congress concerning legislation involving the Judicial Branch. 

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