This Week in Finance News: 13 Stories You Need to See

A roundup of the week's most newsworthy financial industry press releases from PR Newswire, including the best states to recover from a recession and a retirement outlook for Gen X.

NEW YORK, July 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists covering the finance industry stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a roundup of stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

1. Deloitte: Back-to-School Spending Expected to Decline as Inflation Takes its Toll
   The overall back-to-school market is expected to decrease to $31.2 billion; spending on clothing is down 14% year-over-year, and technology is down 13% in favor of school supplies (up 20% year-over-year).
2. Northwestern Mutual Study Finds Americans Who Carry Personal Debt Owe an Average of $21,800 Exclusive of Mortgages
   The overall average is $8,000 lower than it was in 2019, but 35% of Americans say they're carrying close to or at their highest level of debt ever while 43% say their debt is close to or at a historic low.
3. John Hancock Announces 2023 MLK Scholars Program, Invests Another $1 Million in Summer Jobs, Financial Education for Boston Youth
   "Helping to develop this talent pipeline in Boston is critical to leveling the playing field for young people who do not have equal access to the work experiences and networks that are key to building long-term skills, self-confidence, and financial empowerment," said Brooks Tingle, CEO of John Hancock.
4. Chilling Resilience: NationalBusinessCapital's Report Uncovers the Best States to Recover from a Recession in 2023
   From their balanced cost of living and robust job opportunities to prudent budgeting and effective safety nets, these states not only survived - but thrived - in the face of adversity.
5. Black Knight: Housing Market Reignites as Home Prices Hit New Record High in May; Inventory, Affordability Continue to Plague Potential Buyers
   As the nation approaches the traditional end of the spring homebuying season, there are distinct signs of market reheating – almost universally in markets across the United States.
6. Summer Jobs Connect to Provide Financial Education and Banking Access in Summer Youth Employment Programs to 180,000 Young People in 25 Cities
   "Over the past decade, Summer Job Connect has been such a popular, and powerful, program because the idea is both simple and meaningful -- connecting teenagers and young adults to safe and affordable bank and credit union accounts just when they can use them, as they start a summer job," said Jonathan Mintz, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund.
7. Home values reach new peak as owners hang on to houses
   The typical U.S. home value climbed 1.4% from May to June, continuing a four-month hot streak. The new peak of $350,213 is almost 1% higher than last June and barely edges out the previous Zillow Home Value Index record set in July 2022.
8. Unsure How to Pay for College? You're Not Alone - New Study from College Ave Finds Less Than Half of Families Feel Ready the Summer Before College
   If your family is spending the summer discussing how to cover college costs, you're not alone – a recent College Ave Student Loans survey of 1,001 parents of current college students conducted by Barnes & Noble Insights™ found less than half (44%) felt ready to pay those costs the summer before their child's freshman year.
9. Housing Affordability Trust Empowers Local Nonprofits with $3.7 Million in Funding
   HAT is committed to addressing the needs of families in need by supporting local organizations that provide housing and essential services. Since 2017, HAT has disbursed over $26 million in grants to nonprofits, initiatives, and charitable endeavors focused on housing.
10. New Report Finds Alarming Retirement Outlook for Generation X
    A new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) finds a dismal retirement outlook for Generation X, the first generation to enter the labor market following the shift from defined benefit pension plans to 401(k)-style defined contribution accounts.
11. ACAMS Launches Broad Initiative to Strengthen Law Enforcement Investigations and Prosecutions with Financial Intelligence
    The ACAMS Law Enforcement Ecosystem draws on the expertise of seasoned investigators and prosecutors to offer an extensive training curriculum on leveraging anti-money laundering (AML) data to identify evidence of illicit activity, an intensive bootcamp program designed for officials seeking to become Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (CAMS), and a new online resource hub to keep agents apprised of current financial-crime analysis and emerging threats.
12. Goal Solutions is Revolutionizing Transparency and Risk Management in Structured Finance
    In response to the prevailing challenges faced by investors in the structured finance industry, Goal Solutions has unveiled an innovative solution, the Lucidity reporting and analytics portal. This advanced portal aims to address the long-standing problem of limited visibility and inadequate trend analysis in securitizations and warehouses, enabling investors to make more informed decisions and mitigate risks effectively.
13. Cerity Partners Welcomes Lumina Financial Consultants
    Cerity Partners announced today it is merging with Lumina Financial Consultants, a wealth management and financial planning firm that focuses on serving the needs of women, their families and their businesses, with presences in the San Francisco Bay and Richmond, Virginia, metro areas.

Read more of the latest finance-related releases from PR Newswire and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @PRNfinance on Twitter.

Helping Journalists Stay Up to Date on Industry News

These are just a few of the recent press releases that consumers and the media should know about. To be notified of releases relevant to their coverage area, journalists can set up a custom newsfeed with PR Newswire for Journalists.

Once they're signed up, reporters, bloggers and freelancers have access to the following free features:

• Customization: Create a customized newsfeed that will deliver relevant news right to your inbox. Customize the newsfeed by keywords, industry, subject, geography, and more.
• Photos and Videos: Thousands of multimedia assets are available to download and include with your next story.
• Subject Matter Experts: Access ProfNet, a database of industry experts to connect with as sources or for quotes in your articles.
• Related Resources: Read and subscribe to our journalist- and blogger-focused blog, Beyond Bylines, for media news roundups, writing tips, upcoming events, and more.

About PR Newswire and PR Newswire for Journalists

For more than 65 years, PR Newswire has been the industry leader with the largest, most comprehensive distribution network of print, radio, magazine, television stations, financial portals and trade publications. PR Newswire has an unparalleled global reach of more than 200,000 publications and 10,000 websites and is available in more than 170 countries and 40 languages.

PR Newswire for Journalists (PRNJ) is an exclusive community that includes over 20,000 journalists, bloggers and influencers who are logging into their PRNJ accounts specifically looking for story ideas. PR Newswire thoroughly researches and vets this community to verify their identity as a member of the press, blogger or influencer. PRNJ users cover more than 200 beats and verticals.

SOURCE PR Newswire