Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - The price of retirement

Workers are finding it harder to save for retirement, even as the amount they need keeps rising. The average savings target in the US is now $1.8 million, according to a new survey released Wednesday. That’s up from $1.7 million a year ago. Nearly 80% of the 1,000 401(k) plan participants polled said inflation and market volatility were getting in the way of saving more this year, and 36% of those respondents said they’d retire later than planned as a result. The year-over-year overall retirement target isn’t a huge change, coming in at about 6%, but the percentage of workers who think it’s “very likely” they’ll reach that goal fell to 37% from 47% a year ago, and from 53% in 2021. —Natasha Solo-Lyons

US companies added more jobs in July than expected, highlighting the persistent strength of the labor market. Private payrolls increased by 324,000 last month, according to figures published Wednesday. That exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Donald Trump’s attempt to strong-arm Mike Pence into illegally blocking the certification of Joe Biden’s election didn’t just put his vice president’s life at risk, it was the linchpin of Trump’s alleged scheme to defraud America, according to US prosecutors.

Mike Pence presides over the Electoral College vote certification for President-elect Joe Biden at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Photographer: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Fitch’s unexpected downgrade of US government debt sparked criticism from Washington and Wall Street, even amid unease over bulging fiscal deficits and potential repeats of this year’s Republican refusal to raise the debt limit, which almost caused a historic US default. Here’s more on why the credit rating was cut and what it means.

The stock market saw a selloff as hot jobs data, a ramp-up in Treasury issuance and the Fitch downgrade caused traders to retreat. Equities fell across the board, with the S&P 500 notching its worst day since April. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 dropped 2% after a surge that topped 40% this year amid the artificial-intelligence frenzy. Here’s your markets wrap. 

Still, the reversals from Team Recession keep coming. This time it was economists at Bank of America, who scrapped their forecast for a US recession, becoming the first large Wall Street bank to officially reverse its call amid growing optimism about a soft landing. The change comes just a week after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank’s own economists are no longer forecasting a downturn, and days after several big Wall Street names sounded more optimistic notes.

Federal student loan bills return in October. But a growing chorus of borrowers say they simply can’t, or won't pay. To prepare for the restart of payments on Oct. 1, the Biden administration has instituted a one-year leniency program to protect borrowers’ credit. 

Amazon is launching the biggest overhaul of its grocery business since it acquired Whole Foods Market six years ago—revamping stores, testing new highly automated warehouses and, for the first time, offering fresh-food delivery to customers who aren’t Prime subscribers.

• Wife of Canada’s Trudeau announces separation on Instagram.
• Bloomberg Opinion: AI improves cancer detection. Will it save lives?
• GOP effort to curb ESG fails to yield concrete results—so far.
• Salesforce fires more people after a 10% cut earlier this year.
• Health insurers don’t want you to know where your money is going.
• American Airlines in talks with Airbus, Boeing for 100-jet purchase.
• A good hotel room must have these three things.

Toyota is bringing its iconic Land Cruiser back to North America next year with slimmer dimensions and a lower price tag. The world’s biggest carmaker unveiled three variations of its most enduring model in Tokyo on Wednesday. Production will be limited to 5,000 units for the first two months and pricing will start at around $50,000. The trucks will also become available in Japan during the first half of 2024. The smaller Land Cruiser 70 will return to Japan this winter.

A Toyota Land Cruiser 250 prototype on display Tuesday during its world premiere in Tokyo Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg

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