Relief checks news summary | 3 June 2023
US Finance: Latest Updates
Headlines | Saturday, 3 June 2023
- May jobs report soars past expectation again with 339,000 new payrolls
- Senate passes debt ceiling bill avoiding national default, vote 63-36
- Housing prices continue to increase in Aprilas interest rates remain at the highest level in decades.
- How to get student loan debt canceledafter ten years
- Debt ceiling deal: The new SNAP work requirements
- 10 Jobs that could be at risk in the future due to AI
June 2 is National Donut Day,where to find sweet delight freebies
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In light of inflation from the previous year and a budget surplus, several states are continuing to distribute stimulus checks and tax refunds for relief. Here’s a breakdown of the states sending out payments in June, as well as information on how to request them and the respective amounts.
Personal savings fell in April
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has reported that savings fell to 4.1 percent in April from 4.5 percent in March. This comes as personal income rose 0.4 percent. However, in real terms, all of these increases were absorbed by inflation, which explains why they failed to lead to an increase in savings.
All together around $800 billion was saved in April, and while higher than many months in 2022, they are on parr with what households held onto in 2014.
Mortgage rates continued to rise in May. How will these increases impact the housing market? Will the Federal Reserve continue to push up rates?
Two major insurance companies, Allstate and State Farm, have announced that they will stop selling property and casualty coverage to new customers in California. They cite the growing risks from natural disasters and costs of paying out claims.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a crucial federal assistance programme in the United States that aims to provide food support to individuals and families with limited financial resources. Formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, SNAP plays a significant role in combating hunger and improving nutrition for vulnerable populations.
Eligibility for SNAP benefits is primarily based on income and household size.
Each year, the HSF awards scholarships for Hispanic students in the United States. What you need to know: amounts, requirements and application deadlines.
Biden speaks from the Oval Office
Passing this budget agreement was critical. The stakes could not have been higher.
If we had failed to reach an agreement on the budget, there were extreme voices threatening to take America, for the first time in our 247-year history, into default on our national debt. Nothing — nothing would have been more irresponsible. Nothing would have been more catastrophic.
Biden could sign debt ceiling bill on Saturday
The Congress passed legislation to suspend the debt ceiling this week sending it to the White House to be signed into law. President Biden could do that as soon as Saturday according to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
The Senate has approved a bill to suspend the ceiling debt. Following the passage of the bill in the House of Representatives, the Senate rushed to a vote, passing the so-called Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 by a vote of 63 to 36.
The US government could have defaulted on its debt for the first time in history as early as June 5. To prevent this, Congress needed to pass legislation to suspend or raise the debt ceiling.
However, there is still one more step that needs to be taken before it can be enacted and become law.
Weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate surges toward 7%
The weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage raterose again this week jumping from 6.57% to 6.79% for the week ending on Thursday 1 June. The cost of borrowing to buy a new residence is tracking interest rates in the bond market which increased as the US lawmakers haggled over avoiding a debt default.
Now that legislation has been passed to suspend the debt ceiling until 1 January 2025, hopes are that borrowing costs will ease once again.
Wall Street rallies after passing of debt ceiling bill and strong jobs report
Stocks rallied Friday as traders were encouraged by a strong jobs report and lawmakers passing a debt ceiling bill that averts a US default.
The Dow Jones jumped 1.7%, the S&P 500 climbed 1.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1%, reaching its highest level since April 2022.
Non-farm payrolls grew much more than expected in May, rising 339,000 despite economists polled by Dow Jones expecting a relatively modest 190,000 increase. It was the 29th straight month of positive job growth.
Policymakers at the Federal Reserve have been signaling that they would “skip” a rate hike in June when they meet in two weeks. The language the central bankers have been using has been designed to avoid investors thinking that rate hikes would end or even be reversed.
After ten consecutive increases, the overnight bank funding rate has gone from near zero to the range of 5.00% to 5.25% since March 2022. The policy of aggressively raising rates has been designed to bring down inflation by slowing the US economy. However, month after month the data shows that it is still going strong with job openings increasing even as hiring surpassed expectations once again.
Although inflation is still more than double the target of the US central bank and despite the strong economic data, future traders are now betting that the Fed will keep rates at the current level.
Former Fed governor says rate hike possible after rosy jobs report
The May job report shows that the economy is still quite strong, with employers hiring the greatest number of workers last month since January. It also shows that wages are still rising, but not an accelerating pace.
The positive numbers also indicate that the Fed is probably going to have to raise rates again, or at the very least keep them above 5% for a much longer period of time than many expect, according to Former Fed Governor Randy Kroszner.
The Senate has voted 52-46 to block President Biden’s student debt relief program, which aims to cancel billions of dollars in loans.
The resolution would quash the government’s program to forgive either $10,000 or $20,000 in loans of tens of millions of students.
The legislation is now set to land on the president’s desk, but the White House had announced in a statement that he would veto the measure.
However, as this report tells us, Congress is not the only roadblock President Biden is facing.
Options to prepare for retirement
Preparing for retirement early can help you rest easy by the time you stop working. There are several ways to be financially prepared for when you retire besides traditional retirement accounts like your 401K or IRA.
The sooner that you prepare for retirement, the better it is for you, even if you can't even imagine retiring yet. Health savings accounts are a good way to create a good nest egg, and real estate is also a good investment for the future.
Banks stocks rise after Congress staves off debt default
Bank shares rose on Friday after the Senate passed bipartisan legislation that lifted the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and averted a historic default.
Shares of JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America gained between 2.2% and 3.8%.
Their mid-sized counterparts, Charles Schwab), PNC Financial, Regions Financial, US Bancorp, and PacWest Bancorp, gained between 2.9% and 12%.
Meanwhile, the jobs report highlighted a cooling in wage inflation that reinforced bets that the central bank will steer clear of a rate hike this month.
Fed funds futures trading showed an over 70% probability that the Fed will hold interest rates steady at its June 13-14 policy meeting.
(REUTERS)
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To cash Social Security checks for retirement, a person must have a Social Security number (SSN), which you are given to a US citizen and permanent resident, or can be obtained upon being issued a work permit. In addition, you must meet certain credit, earnings, and retirement age requirements.
Non-citizens of the United States can receive Social Security benefits as long as they are in the United States legally or if they live abroad and meet certain criteria.
Finance and economic news: welcome
Senators worked into the night to pass the debt ceiling bill based on negotiations between President Biden and Speaker McCarthy. After voting down 11 amendments which could have slowed the passage of the legislation, lawmakers took a final vote to avert a national default. The tally was 63 to 36 in favor of the spending compromise and suspension of the $31.4 trillion limit on borrowing.
With the last major hurdle cleared and no modifications to the bill’s language, it will now go to Biden’s desk for his signature. The President will address the nation at 7pm ET.