Big Decline in U.S. Auto Sales May Signal End of Six-Year Boom

Here is the latest Economic News from The New York Times.

Big Decline in U.S. Auto Sales May Signal End of Six-Year Boom
Pent-up demand from the recession may have finally run its course, as August sales fell by 4 percent from a year earlier.

Factory Activity Dips, but Economic Growth Seems Promising
Though a strong dollar and lower oil prices constrained August manufacturing, labor market strength could push the Fed closer to raising interest rates.

Common Sense: If Trump Gets His Way, Real Estate Will Get Even More Tax Breaks
A proposal to shave the tax rate on business income would also help out hedge funds and private equity shops.

Canada to Join China-Led Bank, Signaling Readiness to Bolster Ties
The membership would provide a lift for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is widely seen as a counterweight to the World Bank.

Economists Discuss the Predictions That Divide Them
The health of consumer spending, corporate profits and whether there will be a rebound in growth are some of the topics generating disparate views.

Economic Scene: The Challenge of Cutting Coal Dependence
The resistance that Germany has faced underscores the difficulty in the international effort to reduce fossil fuels in the world’s energy supply.

Incomes and Outcomes: How the Middle Class May Have Gotten a Raise
Through a combination of low prices and moderate wage gains, 2015 may have been a great year for median household incomes.

The Week Ahead: Drop Expected in U.S. Auto Industry Sales as Labor Dept. Readies Jobs Report
Sales of new cars and light trucks may have fallen 2.5 percent in August; and the Fed, mulling an interest rate increase, has been watching hiring and unemployment data.

Public Health: Obamacare Marketplaces Are in Trouble. What Can Be Done?
A look at four major challenges the Affordable Care Act is facing, and some possible solutions.

Broadband Law Could Force Rural Residents Off Information Superhighway
A federal court ruling may halt the spread of municipal high-speed internet providers, which often serve households and businesses where commercial cable and telecom firms have been unwilling to go.

Central Bankers Hear Plea: Turn Focus to Government Spending
At an annual conference of central bankers, experts said that increased government spending, not just low rates, was needed to spur growth.

Economic View: Today’s Inequality Could Easily Become Tomorrow’s Catastrophe
The poor and middle class might end up living in a nightmare world of joblessness and danger unless we act to address the growing wealth gap.

Strategies: Some Good News for Investors: The Bull May Still Have Spring in Its Step
Statements by Fed officials, including a speech on Friday by Janet Yellen, confirm that the central bank expects relatively low rates to prevail for years.

Yellen Says Case for a Fed Interest Rate Increase Has Grown Stronger
The Federal Reserve chief, in a speech, points to gains in the job market and economic outlook. But the Fed is not expected to act before December.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim Is Nominated for a Second Term
Despite persistent complaints from staff members about Mr. Kim’s leadership, the United States has tapped him for another five-year term.

Scaling Back: More Evidence That Soda Taxes Cut Soda Drinking
A new study of the Berkeley soda tax found that people in low-income neighborhoods cut sugary drink consumption by a fifth.

Fed, Eager to Show It’s Listening, Welcomes Protesters
The Fed is trying to find its footing in an era whose challenge is not the strength of inflation, but the weakness of economic growth.

Economic Trends: The Housing Market Is Finally Starting to Look Healthy
Millennials are in the mood to buy, and homebuilders are starting to produce more of the starter houses they demand.

Bay Area Start-Ups Find Low-Cost Outposts in Arizona
After struggling with high salaries and soaring housing costs, some Silicon Valley tech companies expanded outward to areas where they could grow quickly and make jobs more appealing.

Strategies: The Obama Years: The Best of Times to Be a Stock Investor
The main reason the bull market hasn’t been widely celebrated may be because it followed one of the worst declines in stock market history.

Economic View: Ban the Box? An Effort to Stop Discrimination May Actually Increase It
Research suggests that unintended consequences may foil well-intentioned policies.

Public Health: Think Your Obamacare Plan Will Be Like Employer Coverage? Think Again
Market shifts and exits of large insurers are leaving Obamacare customers with no-frills plans that limit their choices of doctors and hospitals.

Middle-Income Jobs Finally Show Signs of a Rebound
A Federal Reserve Bank of New York analysis suggests this may signal a turnabout in a long but lackluster economic recovery.

Labor Pool: As More Older People Seek Work, They Are Put Into ‘Old-Person’ Jobs
To the extent that they succeed in finding work at all, older people are likely to find themselves in certain types of jobs.

Policy Puzzle: The Fed Is Searching for a New Framework. New Minutes Show It Doesn’t Have One Yet.
Has something fundamental shifted? Amid uncertainty, the Fed affirmed the status quo.

Pickup in Economy Could Allow a Fed Interest Rate Increase
Government reports pointed to flat consumer prices and gains in industrial output and home-building, which could give the Federal Reserve room to act.

Waiting 8 Days in the Heat for a Chance at a Middle-Class Job
A line formed more than a week early in the West Village for 250 applications for apprenticeships at the New York City District Council of Carpenters.

Sketch Guy: Hesitant to Make That Big Life Change? Permission Granted
Seeking approval and external validation is part of the human experience, but when it comes to making a major shift, that can be hard to find.

Consumers Surprise Economists by Zipping Wallets in July
With retail sales unchanged between June and July, the Federal Reserve likely won’t be raising interest rates anytime soon.

Fact Check: Trump, Clinton’s Economic Plan
The Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump and his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, offered widely different economic proposals in Michigan this week. We fact-checked both of their speeches.

Strategies: The Billion-Dollar Jackpot: Engineered to Drain Your Wallet
Mind-boggling lottery prizes are no accident; they’re the result of skillful planning intended to lure players, who would almost always do better by investing that money.

Cost, Not Choice, Is Top Concern of Health Insurance Customers
Millions of people looking for insurance in the federal marketplaces are more concerned with cost than with finding a favorite doctor or trusted company.

Your Money Adviser: Multigenerational Households: The Benefits, and Perils
Despite recession’s end, a record 60.6 million people, or 19 percent of the American population, lived with multiple generations under one roof in 2014.

In Michigan, Hillary Clinton Calls Donald Trump Enemy of ‘the Little Guy’
Mrs. Clinton accused Mr. Trump of feigning support for working Americans, saying his tax proposals would “give trillions in tax breaks to people like himself.”

Economic View: Why American Schools Are Even More Unequal Than We Thought
Economic disadvantage is often gauged by student eligibility for subsidized lunch, but this standard measure substantially understates the achievement gap.

The 2016 Race: How Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Differ on Taxes
One major difference is that Mr. Trump would give the wealthy a big tax cut, and Mrs. Clinton would raise their taxes.

Macy’s, Struggling to Draw Shoppers, Plans to Close 100 Stores
Investors have been pressuring Macy’s to sell some of its real estate as the company has struggled to attract shoppers to its vast footprint of brick-and-mortar stores.

U.S. Job Openings Rose in June