Gen X is barreling toward retirement with an excruciating student-loan burden. The six million-plus borrowers aged 50 to 61 have the highest average balance of any age group, at $47,857.
Assets in U.S. ETFs swelled to a record $12.19 trillion at the end of August, up from $10.35 trillion at the end of last year. If the pace holds during the fourth quarter, when inflows tend to pick up, it will be the market’s second straight record year. In 2024, ETFs added $1.1 trillion.
The spread, that investors are getting by holding investment-grade corporate bonds compared with ultrasafe U.S. Treasurys fell to 0.74 percentage point in September, its lowest level since 1998. The spread for junk-rated bonds is about 2.75 percentage points, near the record low set in 2007.
EV sales are expected to surge 28% in September from a year earlier, while the much larger market of pure gasoline and hybrid vehicles is expected to contract 2.5%.
Options markets currently show a 93% chance of another 25-basis-point cut in October and an 80% chance of a cut in December.
Overall, companies are requiring 12% more time in-office than in early 2024, according to data on policies for 9,000 employers. Yet Americans still work from home about a quarter of the time—much like in 2023.
For much of the past few years, wages for the bottom third of U.S. earners grew at a faster rate than for the top third. But since the start of the year, top earners have pulled far ahead. In August, annual wage and salary growth fell to 0.9% for the bottom third, the smallest gain since 2016, while the top third saw growth of 3.6% year over year, the most since November 2021.
Inflation-adjusted median household income was $83,730 in 2024, not statistically different from the 2023.
