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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has criticized two recent European laws on companies' disclosures of their environmental, social and governance impacts. SEC chair Paul Atkins said the laws, including the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which requires larger companies to verify whether their supply chains use forced labor or cause environmental damage, could impose costs on investors. "I have significant concerns with the prescriptive nature of these laws and their burdens on U.S. companies, the costs of which are potentially passed on to American investors and customers," Atkins said, adding that European authorities should focus on promoting free enterprise instead.

 

Reuters

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The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported Wednesday that U.S. population growth will significantly decelerate over the coming decades, due to factors such as declines in fertility rates and net immigration. It found that by 2035, there will be 320,000 fewer people in the U.S. subject to Social Security and 280,000 fewer people in the noninstitutionalized population, the group of U.S. people who aren’t in prison, the military or in long-term medical care. The CBO also estimates that 50,000 immigrants on average will be detained each day between 2026 and 2029 due to heightened border security, restricted access to asylum designations, the revocation of temporary deportation protections, and increased US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests and deportations.

 

The Hill

Bloomberg

Wall Street Journal

The Labor Department's Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand, which measures input costs across a broad array of goods and services, dropped 0.1% in August from July, its first drop in four months. On an annual basis, it was up 2.6%. Goods prices excluding food and energy rose 0.3%. Services costs fell 0.2%. Within services, margins at wholesalers and retailers fell 1.7%, matching the biggest drop in data going back to 2009. The release comes a week ahead of the Federal Reserve's release of its decision on the key overnight borrowing rate, and is considered by some to increase the pressure for a decrease. Separately, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday that U.S. wholesale inventories edged up 0.1% in July, instead of rising 0.2% as estimated last month. Economists polled by Reuters had expected last month's estimate would be unrevised. Sales at wholesalers jumped 1.4% in July after rising 0.7% in June. At July's sales pace it would take wholesalers 1.28 months to clear shelves, down from 1.29 months in June. 

 

Bloomberg

CNBC

Reuters

U.S. employers added 911,000 fewer jobs over the 12 months to the end of March than previously thought, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Tuesday. The revision, a routine step in the compilation of government labor statistics, assesses monthly survey estimates alongside state unemployment data. The final annual benchmark revision will be reported in February 2026. For its monthly jobs figures the BLS relies on a survey of about 121,000 employers. One of the survey’s shortcomings is that brand new businesses, or those that may no longer be trading, aren’t included in it. The annual revision process is how the BLS corrects for this drift, by relying on data from state unemployment-tax records that nearly all employers are required to fill out.

 

ABC News

CNN

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Wall Street Journal

U.S. businesses are facing the biggest health-insurance cost increases in at least 15 years, according to Aon, which says that costs for employer coverage could soar around 9.5% in 2026. WTW, meanwhile, has said they could rise 9.2%. “It’s an unsustainable number for a lot of employers,” said Shawn Gremminger, chief executive of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, which represents employers. Insurers say rising premiums for health coverage are driven by the growing cost of healthcare. The causes include higher prices for hospital care, expanding use of services - due in part to higher prevalence of conditions such as cancer in the working-age population - and pricey drugs, including the popular weight-loss and diabetes treatments known as GLP-1s. The WTW survey, which was performed this summer and largely focused on bigger employers, found that 60% were planning to look at replacing their health insurer or pharmacy-benefit manager in the next few years.

 

Wall Street Journal

Boeing Defense and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers have reached a tentative deal to end a five-week-long strike in the St. Louis area, according to officials at the machinists union who said a vote on Boeing's five-year contract offer is scheduled for Friday. “We’ve found a path forward on a five-year contract offer that grows wages by 45% on average," Boeing Defense Vice President Dan Gillian said. "It remains the best deal we’ve ever offered to IAM 837, and we encourage our team to vote yes so we can get back to work building amazing products for our customers.”

 

Reuters

The Trump administration has announced new regulations aimed at increasing transparency in pharmaceutical advertising, particularly on television and social media. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Tuesday requiring companies to disclose more side effects in their ads and enforce existing rules against misleading advertisements. "The goal is not to reduce the number of ads, but ensure patients have full information about side effects," said a senior administration official. In 2024, drug companies spent $10.8bn on direct-to-consumer advertising, with AbbVie and Pfizer being major contributors. The new rules will also apply to influencer marketing on social media, which has seen minimal oversight in recent years. The administration plans to enhance enforcement by various health agencies, including the FDA and FTC, particularly focusing on telehealth companies and their advertising practices.

 

The Columbian

Tricolor Holdings, the subprime car lender, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, resulting in potential combined losses of hundreds of millions of dollars for JPMorgan Chase and Fifth Third. Tricolor has more than 25,000 creditors and listed $1bn to $10bn in assets and liabilities in its filing. Fifth Third planned to book an impairment charge worth $170m due to "fraudulent activity" linked to Tricolor.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will meet with major airline CEOs to discuss a $12.5bn plan to modernize the air traffic control system. The meeting, part of Airlines for America, follows a series of safety incidents, including a fatal crash in January that killed 67. Duffy is also advocating for an additional $19bn in funding. Meanwhile, the USDOT has faced criticism for rolling back consumer protections, including a recent decision to drop cash compensation for flight disruptions. Duffy said: "We need to ensure the safety and efficiency of our air traffic system."

 

Reuters

U.S. News

The Trump administration has appealed a federal judge's ruling that temporarily prevents the removal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Cook is accused of mortgage fraud, a claim the judge deemed insufficient for her dismissal. The appeal aims for a resolution before the Federal Reserve's upcoming interest-rate-setting meeting on September 16, 2025. The case raises significant questions about the independence of the Fed from political influence. Cook, who denies any wrongdoing, argues that the allegations are a pretext for her removal due to her monetary policy stance. The legal battle could ultimately reach the Supreme Court.

 

Reuters

Elon Musk's social media platform X has been fined C$100,000 (approximately $72,307) by a Canadian civil tribunal for failing to remove a non-consensual intimate image, violating British Columbia’s Intimate Image Protection Act. The tribunal's vice chair, Eric Regehr, said that X's decision to geofence the image instead of removing it was insufficient, as it allowed users outside Canada to continue accessing it. The tribunal has invited the affected woman to request additional penalties if X does not comply with the order.

 

Reuters

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol are collaborating to align existing emissions standards and create new rules for pollution accounting and reporting. The ISO's 1406X family of standards and the GHG Protocol's Corporate Accounting and Reporting Scope 2 and Scope 3 Standards will be harmonized and co-branded, said the organizations. The GHG Protocol is a joint initiative of the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Additionally, the organizations are developing a joint product carbon footprint standard to provide companies with more detailed data.

 

Bloomberg Tax