%1

The number of bankruptcy filings in the U.S. has fallen to a level not seen since 1985, thanks to government interventions that kept people afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic and allowed companies to raise cash through debt, the Wall Street Journal reported. In a year marked by lockdowns and periods of high unemployment, 462,309 individuals and companies filed for bankruptcy in the year ended June 30, down 32% from the previous year, according to data compiled by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. That was the lowest tally for a 12-month period since 1985, the administrative office said. Personal bankruptcy filings fell 33% to about 444,000, while business filings declined 17% to about 22,500.

In an effort to speed forgiveness of Paycheck Protection Program loans, the government yesterday opened an online portal through which small businesses that borrowed up to $150,000 can apply to have their loans eliminated, the New York Times reported. The Small Business Administration, which administers the program, hopes the new system will streamline the process both for borrowers and for the program’s nearly 5,500 lenders, which collectively made 11.8 million government-backed loans totaling $800 billion between April 2020 and May 2021. Until now, each lender had to set up its own process for collecting loan forgiveness applications and sending them to the S.B.A. for approval. The new system “will simplify forgiveness for millions of our smallest businesses,” said Isabel Casillas Guzman, the agency’s administrator. About 92 percent of the program’s loans fall under the portal’s $150,000 cap. But there’s a sticking point: Lenders also have to agree to use the portal, otherwise the service won’t work for the borrower. So far, about 900 lenders have signed on, but many of the program’s largest lenders, especially big banks, are not on board. Several lenders said they preferred to stick with their own processes out of concern that steering customers to the S.B.A.’s portal would create confusion. Banks are also leery of relying on an agency that has struggled throughout the pandemic with buggy and overloaded technology systems.

Lawmakers and housing advocates are struggling to figure out how to get billions of dollars in rental assistance to tenants who desperately need the help, even with the action taken Tuesday by the Biden administration to extend an eviction moratorium for most of the country, The Hill reported. Congress this year appropriated $46 billion for tenants and landlords in need, but only about $3 billion has reached the intended recipients. Concerns are now growing that unless a better method of distribution is developed, the U.S. will find itself in the same place two months from now when the new eviction ban expires. Similar to many facets of COVID-19 aid, state and local governments are finding it difficult to reach the hardest hit populations. Housing advocates across the country describe a complicated process that starts with putting the onus on tenants to apply for assistance. In many states, such as New York, the only way to access the application for rental assistance is online, an immediate hurdle for many since broadband internet access is often sparse in the very low-income areas that would benefit from the aid. “You need to be able to upload PDF documents in order to complete it. It’s a very long application that can take one to two hours to complete, and you have to do it all in one setting,” said Lucy Block, research and policy associate for the New York City-based Association of Neighborhood and Housing Development.

U.S. private sector payroll growth fell well short of expectations in July, according to data released Wednesday, raising doubts about the strength of the upcoming federal jobs report, The Hill reported. The ADP National Employment report for July showed a gain of just 330,000 jobs for nonfarm businesses in the private sector, down from 680,000 in June and roughly half of the 650,000 jobs economists expected firms to add last month. “July payroll data reports a marked slowdown from the second quarter pace in jobs growth,” ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said in the report. Data from payroll processor Homebase also showed a 0.4 percent decline in the number of hours worked by small businesses in July. Homebase also found that states that ended federal unemployment benefits early saw employment decline 0.9 percent in July, while states that kept the benefits saw employment increase by 2.3 percent.

Days after a national eviction moratorium expired, the Biden administration on Tuesday issued a new, more limited freeze that remains in effect through Oct. 3, NPR reported. Like the previous order, the two-month moratorium issued Tuesday comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new ban on evictions covers parts of the United States that are experiencing what the CDC calls "substantial" and "high" spread of the coronavirus. As of Tuesday afternoon, that's the vast majority of U.S. counties. The order, which cites the rise of the delta variant, says: "Without this Order, evictions in these [higher transmission] areas would likely exacerbate the increase in cases." The federal ban expired Saturday night, affecting millions of Americans who had the potential to be removed from their homes if they had fallen behind on rent. Since that moratorium's expiration, progressives had pressured the Biden administration to extend the pause on evictions. The administration previously said it didn't have the legal authority to issue a such a measure. The new order could face legal challenges. Gene Sperling, who oversees the White House's rollout of COVID-19 relief, told reporters on Monday that Biden had "quadruple-checked" whether he had the legal grounds to extend the moratorium unilaterally but said ultimately his hands were tied by a Supreme Court ruling that blocked the CDC from extending its past moratorium beyond the end of July. A last-minute effort by Congress to extend the ban failed.

U.S. household debt rose at the fastest pace since 2013 in the second quarter, driven by a mortgage boom as Americans took advantage of low borrowing costs and sought more space to work from home, Bloomberg News reported. Household liabilities climbed $313 billion to $14.96 trillion as of the end of June, a 2.1% rise from three months earlier, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a report published yesterday. Most of the increase came in mortgage balances. With the average 30-year rate declining in the period, millions of Americans with good credit took the opportunity to refinance and cut their monthly payments. Some 44% of the country’s entire $10.4 trillion stock of mortgages was originated in the 12 months through June, according to the New York Fed. Credit-card balances, while they rose by $17 billion in the second quarter as the consumer economy rebounded, are about $140 billion lower than at the end of 2019.

Businesses are sitting on record amounts of unused credit from U.S. banks, another quirk in the economic recovery that bankers say could help unleash pent-up spending in the coming months. Bank executives said their business clients have in recent months ramped up requests for credit lines that can be drawn quickly for spending on inventory, labor or expansions, the Wall Street Journal reported. Companies aren’t actually drawing the money into their bank accounts just yet. Businesses are already stuffed with cash, and supply-chain issues and labor shortages have crimped their ability to spend it. But bankers say the activity in recent months is evidence that businesses are planning to turn on the spending spigot. That could help the economy shoot higher. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp., the two biggest banks in the U.S., together had nearly $1 trillion in unused corporate credit at the end of June. That is up 20% from a year ago and a quarterly record at both banks. (Subscription required.)

New York City will require proof of vaccination for workers and customers at indoor restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, Bloomberg News reported. De Blasio announced the “Key to NYC Pass,” what he said is a first-in-the-U.S. requirement for employees and indoor venue-goers. The policy, enacted via mayoral executive order and a health department order, will be launched Aug. 16 and phased in, with enforcement beginning Sept. 13. “Not everyone’s going to agree with this, I understand this,” de Blasio said Monday at a virus briefing. “But for so many people, this is going to be a lifesaving act.” De Blasio said he hoped his requirement would be a model for the nation. He was joined virtually at his briefing by national health experts, including former White House COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt. The move by de Blasio is the latest step to encourage New Yorkers to get vaccinated. The mayor is requiring city workers to get COVID-19 shots or be tested weekly, while all new hires by the city must be inoculated.