Student loan payments resumed, adding a burden for households and a risk to the economy.Investors are hoping this month ends up better than the last one. The first trading week of October starts after U.S. equities saw their worst month of the year in September. Thedropped 4.9% and 5.8%, respectively. Markets avoided one potential negative as Congress prevented a government shutdown over the weekend.
Typical borrowers will owe hundreds of dollars a month — by one estimate, adding up to $7 billion to $8 billion reallocated to the payments every month. While the long-term effect on the economy is unclear, households around the country will feel the crunch from payments restarting. Many borrowers plan to delay purchases of big-ticket or discretionary items, which could take a bite out of sales at retailers liketo fix an issue that has caused its new iPhone 15 models to overheat.