U.S. producer prices rose a bit more than expected in August as the cost of services increased solidly, while underlying producer inflation continued to firm.  The producer price index for final demand rose 0.3% last month after surging 0.6% in July.

The government said that 13.4 million people are continuing to receive traditional jobless benefits, up from 13.3 million the previous week. The increase suggests that hiring isn’t occurring quickly enough to offset still-widespread layoffs.  Hiring will likely remain restrained as long as Americans are unable or reluctant to resume their normal habits of shopping,  traveling, dining out and engaging in other commerce. The rate of reported infections has dropped over the past several weeks but remains well above where it was during the spring. Most analysts say the economy won’t likely be able to sustain a recovery until a vaccine is widely available.

The majority of Oregonians once again paid their rent on time in September, but the latest numbers from housing groups continued to show a worrying decline in the percentage of tenants paying their rent at the beginning of the month.  According to data compiled by RealPage, a company that provides property management software, 81% of renters in Oregon made full or partial rental payments by September 6.  Those numbers are down 11 percentage points from September 6 of last year when about 92% of renters in Oregon had made full or partial rental payments.
 
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, I’m Tyler Simones.