Month: August 2021

Durable Goods Orders Slip as Supply Chain Disruptions Persist

Posted on August 25, 2021 by

Orders for big-ticket items slipped last month as manufacturers continued to navigate a supply chain crunch that has resulted in higher materials costs.

New orders for manufactured durable goods in July fell 0.1% to a seasonally adjusted $257.2 billion, according to the Census Bureau. Excluding transportation, new orders decreased 0.7%. They fell 1.2% when excluding defense.

Supply chain disruptions that were caused by factories shutting down in an attempt to help slow the spread of COVID-19 resulted in unfilled orders increasing for a sixth straight month, rising 0.3% to $1.225 trillion. Unfilled machinery orders, which have increased 16 straight months, rose by $2.3 billion to $109.2 billion.

 

Census Bureau Releases Decennial Population Data for the State of Wisconsin

Posted on August 13, 2021 by

Wisconsin’s population rose to 5,893,718, a 3.6% increase from the 2010 census, retaining its position as the 20th most populous state. Its population growth rate ranked 34th among the 50 states. Altogether, the U.S. population rose to 331,449,281, the Census Bureau said, a 7.4% increase that was the second-slowest ever.

In Wisconsin, the census data show areas such as Dane County, Brown County (Green Bay) and Outagamie County (Appleton) gaining the most people, while Milwaukee County and 20 rural counties lost population.

Dane County added 73,431 people over the past decade, a 15% increase, making it the fastest-growing county in the state, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau Thursday.

The data show Milwaukee County lost 8,246 residents over the past decade, a decrease of 0.9%, for a 2020 population of 939,489, still the largest county in the state by far by population.

The county that shrank the fastest over the past decade was Richland County, in southwestern Wisconsin, losing 717 residents or 4% of its population. The next two biggest losers were in rural northern Wisconsin: Taylor County, which lost 776 residents and Rusk County, which lost 567 residents, both 3.8% declines.

State legislators will use the census data to ensure that Wisconsin’s political maps reflect how the state’s population has grown and shifted since the 2010 census. With a detailed understanding of where Wisconsin’s population resides in 2020, they can update the boundaries of the state’s eight congressional, 99 Assembly and 33 state Senate districts, and local leaders can redraw municipal and county board districts.

 

Biden Administration Extends Student Loan Pause Until January 31, 2022

Posted on August 9, 2021 by

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced a final extension of the pause on student loan repayment, interest, and collections until January 31, 2022. The Department believes this additional time and a definitive end date will allow borrowers to plan for the resumption of payments and reduce the risk of delinquency and defaults after restart. The Department will continue its work to transition borrowers smoothly back into repayment, including by improving student loan servicing.

“The payment pause has been a lifeline that allowed millions of Americans to focus on their families, health, and finances instead of student loans during the national emergency,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “As our nation’s economy continues to recover from a deep hole, this final extension will give students and borrowers the time they need to plan for restart and ensure a smooth pathway back to repayment. It is the Department’s priority to support students and borrowers during this transition and ensure they have the resources they need to access affordable, high quality higher education.”

The Department will begin notifying borrowers about this final extension in the coming days, and it will release resources and information about how to plan for payment restart as the end of the pause approaches.