The travel and leisure sector was one of the hardest hit industries during the pandemic. Now that most worldwide travel restrictions have been lifted, the industry is rebounding. It appears that travel businesses relied on more commercial credit to weather the storm of the pandemic and raised prices to help recover. While commercial credit delinquencies were higher during the pandemic, they have now eased across most of the travel industries indicating that maybe the worst is over for this sector.
The August inflation report was generally positive news but did indicate some mixed results. Inflation (CPI) increased for the second consecutive month to 3.7% in August but core inflation, excluding food and energy, decreased in July to 4.3%, the lowest since September 2021. Annual producer price inflation (supplier prices) increased to 1.6% in August, up from in 0.8% July and is the highest since
April 2023. Although CPI is still above the Fed’s 2% target, they paused rate hikes at their September 20th meeting. However, they indicated that they may continue
to raise rate at one of the remaining two meetings later this year.
What I am watching:
There are several high-profile news stories that could have an impact on the economy:
- If Congress does not pass a bill to fund the government by September 30, a government shutdown may lead to negative economic impacts.
- If the auto worker strike continues for a long time and auto production is diminished, some experts estimate that it will be a significant impact to the economy.
- The moratorium on student loan payments is set to expire on OctoberAs individuals begin paying their monthly loan payment, they will have less disposable income to spend on other things that fuel economic growth
