>>Consumer Confidence Rises In November
(New York, NY) -- Consumer confidence is bouncing back after three straight monthly declines. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index rose three points in November. The board's chief economist noted improved confidence about future business conditions, job availability and incomes. Still, fewer consumers planned to buy big ticket items including homes and autos in the next six months as interest rates remain high.
>>New Home Sales Dip In October
(Washington, DC) -- Sales of newly built homes slowed in October. According to the Commerce Department, homes under contract totaled 679-thousand for the month, which is down five-point-six percent from September. That's still nearly 18 percent above the sales rate of one year ago. The median price of a new home sold in October was just over 409-thousand dollars.
>>Biden Announces Actions On Supply Chains
(Washington, DC) -- President Biden is rolling out new actions to strengthen U.S. supply chains. While speaking from the White House Monday, Biden announced he launched a new council focused on ensuring supply chains remain secure and diversified. Other actions include the creation of an early warning system to spot supply chain risks and invoking the Defense Production Act to make more essential medicines in America and mitigate drug shortages. Biden said his administration is focused on lowering the price of goods for Americans.
>>Store Branded Credit Card Origination Declining
(New York, NY) -- Holiday spending is up, but with it, consumers have far less interest in signing up for store branded credit cards. Private Label credit cards can carry interest rate of 30-percent and up. They've been very lucrative for retailers; but not great for borrowers. Store cards tend to charge higher interest because they are less selective when it comes to credit quality. However, interest in these credit cards is waning as American's carry fewer credit cards and increasingly finance purchases with 'buy now, pay later' apps, an updated version of layaway. The average interest rate for retail cards is 28.9 percent, compared with 21.1 percent for all credit cards.
>>Google to Delete Inactive Accounts December 1st
(Mountain View, CA) -- Google is days away from deleting inactive accounts. Beginning December 1st, Google will delete unattended accounts of all photos, calendar entries, e-mails, contacts and Drive documents. The company says it's in an effort to protect users from security threats. According to Google's data experts, accounts with old or reused passwords are ten times more likely to be compromised by hackers. To keep an account from being deleted, simply log into any of the following Google tools: Gmail, Google Drive, Google Photos, or Google Play. Changing the account password and enabling two-factor verification is recommended.
>>Intuit Adds AI Features to TurboTax
(Mountain View, CA) -- Intuit is adding generative AI-powered tax prep features to TurboTax. The Mountain View, California-based company will unveil the new AI-enhanced version of its popular tax preparation software on November 30. Human assistance in English and Spanish remains available for TurboTax Live customers.
>>Sunday Breaks TSA Travel Record
(Washington, DC) -- The TSA says Sunday broke the single-day travel record. More than two-point-nine-million people passed through security at U.S. airports as people traveled home from Thanksgiving. Airlines also reported record numbers over the holiday. American Airlines said it saw almost six-point-five million customers over Thanksgiving while United Airlines had three-point-two million passengers between November 17th and November 23rd. The records were shattered despite a storm system that caused hundreds of flights to be delayed.
