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Key Insight: The nomination allows Acting Director Russell Vought to bypass the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. What's at Stake: Vought has three weeks left before he reaches the 210-day limit to remain at the agency. With the nomination, he gets another 210 days.Forward Look: The nomination is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to shutter the CFPB after Vought claimed he could not legally request funding for the bureau. President Trump has nominated Stuart Levenbach, an associate director at the Office of Management and Budget, to be the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, though many observers say Levenbach is likely a placeholder nominee that allows Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought to remain at the helm of the agency. Vought said last week that he thinks the CFPB will be closed by year-end, claiming he cannot seek funding from the Federal Reserve. The funding dispute is part of a larger, ongoing political and legal battle by the Trump administration to shutter the CFPB. Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, agency directors typically can serve for only 210 days.That time is extended if another person is nominated for the permanent position. By nominating Levenbach, Vought can serve for at least another 210 days while the Senate considers the nomination. A new 210-day period begins if the nominee is rejected or withdrawn.Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, said in a press release that the nomination "looks like nothing more than a front for Russ Vought to stay on as Acting Director indefinitely as he tries to illegally close down the agency.""Instead of doing everything in their power to lower costs for Americans, Trump and Vought want to make it easier for giant corporations to scam families out of their money," she added.Levenbach made waves as a political appointee serving as chief of staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric  Administration, where he tried to tone down the conclusions of the National Climate Assessment, a congressionally-mandated climate report, which alarmed scientists. He also has served as a senior advisor at the White House National Economic Council. He was tapped by OMB in March to be associate director of natural resources, energy, science, and water.A confirmation hearing date has not been scheduled and many experts think Republicans will simply sit on the nomination, allowing Vought to complete his policy objectives at the CFPB. Last week, the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion stating that the CFPB cannot legally request funding from the Federal Reserve System, leaving the CFPB's future in limbo after December 31. The DOJ sent a notice to two federal courts involved in the union's dispute that the CFPB cannot legally request funding from the Fed because the central bank technically has no profits. Vought was sued in February by the National Treasury Employees Union, which claimed he was seeking to fire 90% of the CFPB's employees through a reduction-in-force. A district judge granted the NTEU an injunction that kept Vought from firing staff, but an appeals court ruled in August that the reductions in force were legal. That opinion is now being appealed. Vought also notified Congress that the CFPB only has enough money to continue operating through Dec. 31, leaving its future in limbo, according to the notice filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.Vought claims that the agency may be forced to lay off employees and that without appropriations from Congress, the CFPB will no longer function.

The pairing of exchange-traded funds to residential mortgage-backed securities is no new concept, but 2025 looks like it is turning into a renaissance year for RMBS ETFs, based on recent trends. Since November 2024, the bond market has seen at least four new issuances from investment banks, including the likes of JPMorganChase, Charles Schwab, Regan Capital and Morgan Stanley's Eaton Vance unit. While the mechanism for MBS ETF creation has been in place for close to 20 years, the convergence of a wide variety of factors, including soundness of the assets, investors' search for diversification and a maturing segment, has banks taking a look at bringing the funds to bond markets. The decision to introduce an agency-backed MBS fund by Schwab Asset Management "came from the combination of where we had an existing gap in our product suite, despite the fact that we already had existing expertise," and consideration of "how we could round out our offerings," said Rizwan Hussain, director and investment portfolio strategist at the firm. Some of the appeal of MBS ETFs lies in the backing the vast majority of mortgage originations in the U.S. receive, which offers some protection against volatility that makes other bond segments more volatile. "Securities from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae have either explicit or implicit guarantees from the US sovereign, whereas corporates obviously do not," Hussain continued. "That makes agency mortgage-backed securities more attractive."Elevated spread levels in mortgage-backed securities compared to Treasurys since the end of 2022 are also contributing to recent interest, added Ward Bortz, ETF portfolio manager and head of distribution for US wealth at Angel Oak Capital Advisors."Spreads are really wide. Because spreads are wide, that means the yields available are high," Bortz said. A brief history of the mortgage ETF marketWhile they appear to be an increasingly popular investment opportunity today, interest in such products wasn't always near current levels. The first MBS ETF came from Barclays Global Investors in 2007, as cracks from the subprime crisis began to emerge, likely putting a chill on any initial momentum for mortgage-backed assets it might have brought. Trading of the first ETFs, which give investors options to take advantage of the performance of securities without holding ownership of the underlying assets themselves, only began in the early 1990s themselves in U.S. markets. The investment banks, called authorized participants, responsible for facilitating and redeeming MBS funds were entering new territory at the time in what was still a nascent industry. "They didn't know how to situate themselves between the buyers and the sellers because ETFs in general were new. And MBS ETFs — they just started dabbling," said Seddik Meziani, professor of finance at Montclair State University."But now they are more sophisticated, and there's liquidity in there that did not exist at that time. The structure of the market itself changed. The market is deeper." Meziani continued, describing the latest newfound sentiment. Also contributing to the recent uptick in investor interest is evidence of strong historical performance, experts said. Net assets of the MBS ETF portfolio belonging to Blackrock, which acquired the original Barclays fund, have grown from approximately $7 billion in 2015 to over $40 billion today. A similar Vanguard ETF also increased almost tenfold to $15 billion over the same period. What about nonagency mortgages?"The problem with this is all you can do is buy agency mortgage-backed securities," noted Bortz. Most mortgage ETFs available are almost entirely, if not exclusively, comprised of agency holdings with their performance benchmarked to indexes tracking securities backed by the federal government.It's a hole that firms like Angel Oak have tried to fill in recent years as they recognized the potential value in nonagency residential securitizations.Angel Oak Capital is among the issuers with a split between both agency and nonagency holdings after its early 2024 launch of a residential MBS fund, which includes both prime jumbo and non-qualified securities. (The company is prohibited from including securitizations of originations coming from affiliated Angel Oak non-QM lending businesses to avoid potential conflicts of interest). While JPMorganChase's offering is dominated by agency MBS, it also includes a slice of non-qualified mortgage securities along with commercial securities.The reasoning behind Angel Oak's ETF launch was to create "more sophisticated" investment opportunities that introduced value beyond the readings of a single index, even if they held more risk. As with all mortgage securities, issuers run stress tests of the holdings to address potential risks, including prepayments and default."We ought to manage more money, so we think 'What can we do that's better?'" Bortz said. "And hopefully people want to buy into that." The role of retail trading todayThe rise of MBS ETFs coincides with developments in recent years that have broadly led more consumers to take a hands-on approach in financial trading, experts said.While headlines surrounding an influx of retail investors focus on how they've piled on to stock purchases, recent trends show some spillover into bond trading, including in MBF ETFs, Meziani noted. "Institutional investors are still dominating the market, but you have more and more retail investors that are coming in," he added. "Retail investors are being brought into the market more and more by their advisors."Although stock indexes have performed strongly in 2025, "they remember the word 'diversification,'" he added.  "You shouldn't have only equity instruments. You should also have debt instruments in our portfolios."The growing availability of trading information and education in recent years has changed markets in such a way that some investors are comfortable jumping into the ETF space of their own accord and finding value for their portfolios, Hussain also remarked. "What has happened over the last five years, in particular with ETFs, is that the launch and growth of the ETF space has really democratized the investment landscape and allowed investors to gain access to parts of the financial markets they maybe didn't have as much access to historically in a liquid, transparent, tax-efficient way," he said. 

Key Insight: Cash loans made by the Federal Home Loan Banks dipped in the third quarter versus a year ago. What's at Stake: Experts looking for insight into the economy cautioned against interpreting the dip as a sign of abundant liquidity. Expert Quote: "I don't think this is a sign that the financial system is awash in liquidity." — Kathryn Judge, Columbia Law SchoolMarket uncertainty and a dearth of financial data spurred by the recently concluded government shutdown has led to renewed interest in data from the Federal Home Loan Banks to gain insight into the strength of the banking system. Cash loans to commercial banks and other members dipped 6% in the third quarter to $693.5 million, from $736.1 million a year earlier, the Federal Home Loan Banks said in an earnings report Friday. The system's third quarter net income was relatively flat at $1.5 billion compared with a year ago. The 11 regional FHLB banks provide loans — known as "advances" — to financial institutions that pledge collateral in exchange, typically single and multifamily mortgage loans, commercial real estate loans, U.S. Treasuries and agency securities.Lower advances generally mean that money is cheaper elsewhere or that banks are flush with cash — or both. But Kathryn Judge, the Harvey J. Goldschmid Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, cautioned against reading too much into the FHLBs' earnings and the volume of advances, which she said can vary "quite significantly" over time. "I don't think this is a sign that the financial system is awash in liquidity," said Judge.She noted that the Federal Reserve has said it will end quantitative tightening on Dec. 1, a significant softening of its balance sheet reduction program. "The Fed's decision to end QT, for example, suggests that liquidity is becoming more scarce than it has been in quite a while," Judge said.  The dip in FHLB advances comes amid a dearth of financial data due to the government shutdown. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has not been able to collect hard data in September and October, which has caused significant delays in the official jobs reports, at a time when the Trump administration is pushing for further interest rate cuts in December. Ryan Donovan, president and CEO of the Council of Federal Home Loan Banks, the FHLBs' trade group, said advances expand or contract based on banks' needs. "The Federal Home Loan Banks were established to be a reliable source of affordable liquidity for their members when they need it," Ryan said. "This is the fundamental nature of the FHLBank System, and quarter over quarter, year over year, the FHLBanks have demonstrated their dependability, providing their members with liquidity that anchors communities nationwide."FHLB borrowing has been a topic of interest since the early 2023 regional bank crisis, when Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank and Signature Bank each tapped the FHLBs for liquidity just ahead of their eventual demise. Fears of a broader contagion did not ultimately materialize. Before that, when the pandemic hit in March 2020, member institutions tapped the FHLBs in droves, with advances spiking to $807 billion. But when federal stimulus programs kicked in, financial institutions were themselves flooded with deposits and advances tanked. The 11 FHLBs are member-owned cooperatives, but have been chartered by Congress to provide liquidity to the financial system as a means of supporting home development. The FLB system issues debt with an implied guarantee, making the FHLBs a lesser-known Government-Sponsored Enterprise than its cousins, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That dual mission of providing liquidity and supporting housing came under intense scrutiny during the Biden administration, when the former FHFA Director Sandra Thompson proposed important changes to the system following a 100-year review report. Last month, FHFA Director Bill Pulte withdrew two proposed Biden-era rules issued pursuant to that report. One rule addressed corporate governance issues including director compensation, while the other would have provided more flexibility for the banks short-term liquidity needs.The Council of Federal Home Loan Banks maintains that the system's primary mission is providing liquidity to members, while 10% of FHLB profits go to affordable housing and community development programs. Last year, the FHLBs contributed a record $1.2 billion to affordable housing and community development. Some critics of the system have claimed the federal government subsidizes the FHLBs, which also pay large dividends to members, through its implied guarantee.Last week, the Urban Institute released a study, funded by the FHLBs, that found advances provide stability to the banking system. Last year, a study by the Congressional Budget Office found the net subsidy to FHLB-members was $6.9 billion in fiscal 2024.

Supporting data: Cloudflare dominates the "internet plumbing" sector with an estimated 82% market share for reverse proxy services, meaning a single glitch can ripple through global commerce.What's at stake: The disruption reignites concerns detailed by the Treasury Department regarding the financial sector's dangerous over-reliance on a small concentration of cloud service providers.Forward look: Security leaders are urging financial institutions to adopt a "prepper" mindset by building modular systems that isolate faults and guarantee availability even when vendors fail.Overview bullets generated by AI with editorial reviewInternet infrastructure provider Cloudflare experienced a global service degradation on Monday, impacting a range of websites and applications, including some operated by small financial institutions.The disruption began with Cloudflare reporting an "internal service degradation" at approximately 6:48 a.m. Eastern Time. At 9:42 a.m., the company reported it had implemented a fix.By 12:44 p.m., the services were operating normally with typical error rates and latency across the network, and at 2:28 p.m., the company declared the incident resolved.The incident affected TEG Federal Credit Union in Poughkeepsie, New York, which reported on its website early in the outage that its digital banking service was experiencing intermittent connectivity issues because of the outage.Customers of digital bank SoFi, de novo bank Varo, and Associated Bank in Green Bay, Wisconsin also reported a brief period of service disruption during the same time Cloudflare reported issues. The reports came from DownDetector, a crowdsourced internet outage tracker.Cloudflare attributed the disruption to a "spike in unusual traffic," according to the status update page on the matter. As of time of publication, its engineering teams were continuing to perform a deeper investigation into the disruption. Initial indications did not suggest a cyberattack.What exactly is Cloudflare?Although Cloudflare has relatively modest cloud computing and storage services, the company dominates in the field of internet plumbing — the servers and connections that get data from one part of the internet (perhaps a bank's servers) to another (perhaps your phone or computer).Specifically, Cloudflare provides the biggest reverse proxy service and most popular content delivery network, according to market analyses.A reverse proxy service acts as a go-between that filters traffic to a website, improving website performance with techniques such as caching. A reverse proxy also adds a layer of protection against certain cyberattacks such as distributed denial of service, or DDoS attacks.W3Techs, a platform that tracks web technology usage, estimates that Cloudflare has an 82% market share of reverse proxy services — ahead of Amazon Web Services at 6%.A content delivery network expands on this idea, offering more comprehensive improvements to website performance. As Cloudflare explains it, a CDN "is a geographically distributed group of servers that caches content close to end users. A CDN allows for the quick transfer of assets needed for loading Internet content."6Sense, an internet service marketing and intelligence firm, estimates Cloudflare owns 41% of the content delivery market — again, ahead of Amazon Web Services at 27%.Concerns over similar, bigger incidentsLeaders at payments companies Tribe Payments and BR-DGE noted the potential for impacts on payments when internet service providers such as Cloudflare experience service degradation."When a single upstream provider experiences issues, the impact doesn't stay contained; it cascades across industries," said Fadl Mantash, chief information security officer at Tribe Payments.The Cloudflare outage serves as "another reminder of just how fragile the internet's backbone can be, and how quickly a single point of failure can ripple through global commerce," said Thomas Gillan, CEO at BR-DGE.The incident also revived arguments by consumer advocates regarding the threats posed by the high concentration of power among a few large technology firms providing critical internet infrastructure.In February 2023, the Department of the Treasury detailed concerns within the financial services industry about concentration risk in the cloud market.The report found that the "current cloud services market is concentrated around a small number of service providers," which while offering potential benefits like economies of scale, also exposes many financial services companies "to the same set of physical or cyber risks."The concentration means that if an incident occurs at one cloud service provider, it could concurrently affect numerous financial sector clients.The Treasury report identified six major challenges, including the potential impact of market concentration and the dynamics in contract negotiations given the limited number of providers, noting that smaller financial institutions, in particular, lacked bargaining power.Cybersecurity leaders for payments companies reiterated these monopolization concerns in 2024, when a panel of leaders at a cybersecurity conference lamented what they called monopolization in the cloud services industry.Clarissa Banks, chief information security officer for payments platform Deluxe, said at the time that monopolistic vendors often want to charge extra for basic security controls even though the features constitute "foundational controls that you would expect regardless."For institutions relying on these services, the imperative remains building resilience that accounts for infrastructure failures beyond their immediate control.Tribe Payments' Mantash said after the Cloudflare incident Monday that companies need to adopt the "prepper" mindset by building modular systems that isolate faults, rehearsing failure scenarios and adhering to robust compliance frameworks that guarantee availability even during disruptions.

Hedge fund manager, billionaire and legacy government-sponsored enterprise investor Bill Ackman is pushing his plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in response to officials' call for input.Ackman, who previously has suggested that the GSEs be merged, backed off that concept in a live broadcast and subsequent Q&A in an X space Tuesday morning while offering up another plan.The founder and CEO of Pershing Share Capital Management pushed instead for accounting that would recognize the repayment of the senior preferred shares, exercise of the 79.9% warrants in the companies and a relisting of their stock."What we think is likely and highly easy to execute is effectively just an uplifting of the entities to the New York Stock Exchange once the senior preferred stock payments have been accounted for, and that can literally be done in a simple letter of agreement," he said.Relisting is important because trading in the over-the-counter markets as Fannie and Freddie's shares now effectively limits investment. "The exchange would be delighted to have these companies back," Ackman said.Ackman said he viewed Trump administration officials' plans for a secondary stock offering for a portion of the GSEs' shares as potentially valuable."It enables the administration to show the American public kind of a hint of the potential significant value," he said.Ackman said the government may decide to retain its stake but also noted that a secondary offering could pave the way or a more comprehensive move away from public ownership."It is important that the government, as part of this process, announce a timeline for when they're going to accomplish the rest of the objectives," he said.At that point, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could become "must-own securities for institutions and very attractive, high yielding, dividend paying companies that will be great retirement stakes for the investing public," said Ackman.Several steps would have to be taken before that could happen including establishing adequate capital, guarantee fees that would earn a sufficiently adequate return on equity, and for a deal to be struck in which existing preferred stock purchase agreement could be a potential backstop."There needs to be clarity on what powers the FHFA will retain post conservatorship," Ackman said, referring to the Federal Housing Finance Agency that oversees Fannie and Freddie.Ackman said the GSEs also would need to recruit and design the kind of compensation packages that would attract "best in class" management teams and boards of directors."Most significantly, all this needs to be accomplished, and the entities need to come out of conservatorship," he added.As far as the idea of combining the two companies, Ackman said he rejected it after looking into the possibility."I don't think it makes sense to merge," he said, walking back his earlier reading of President Trump's illustrated post about a NYSE listed Great American Mortgage Corporation as suggesting a combination, and noting that it likely represented the two entities collectively.Ackman also reiterated bitterness about how the government staged a net worth sweep in 2012 was damaging to legacy GSE investors' interests up until it was discontinued during President Trump's first term.While courts upheld the sweep and Ackman said he doesn't argue the legality, he said he considers it improper and important to avoid in any future similar circumstances. Ackman said he has been maintaining his current holdings in GSE stock with no plans either to buy or sell.

Intuit and OpenAI announced a multi-year partnership Wednesday, marking another stride in the financial sector's push toward widespread adoption of AI. Under the agreement, Intuit-powered apps, such as Intuit TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks and Mailchimp, will be in ChatGPT, allowing users to take financial actions directly through the AI chatbot. With knowledge of their financial data and behaviors, users will get more insightful and useful responses through the Intuit apps in ChatGPT, the companies said in a press release."We are taking a massive step forward to fuel financial success for consumers and businesses, unlocking growth for both companies," Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi said in the release. "Our partnership combines the power of Intuit's proprietary financial data, credit models, and AI platform capabilities with OpenAI's scale and frontier models to give users the financial advantage they need to prosper." Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi Intuit will deepen its use of OpenAI's frontier models in its proprietary generative AI operating system under the deal valued at more than $100 million.The partnership can help consumers make smarter money decisions by delivering personalized financial actions, with their permission, such as finding the credit card or mortgage that is best for them given their spending patterns and approval odds, getting more personalized answers to tax questions and estimating their tax refund, the release said.For businesses, the collaboration could help them create campaigns to drive customer growth, get paid faster with AI-generated invoice reminders and improve cashflow by accessing tailored loan options, for example, the release said."This partnership combines our most advanced models and global scale with Intuit's platform capabilities to help everyone make smarter financial decisions and build more secure futures," said Fidji Simo, CEO of applications at OpenAI.OpenAI has partnered with multiple companies over the last few months, including Microsoft, Amazon and a few in the mortgage space, such as Zillow and Fairway Home Mortgage. OpenAI's deal with Zillow is similar to the one with Intuit, as a user can look up a home in a specific neighborhood on Zillow without leaving the ChatGPT app.

Fraud and forgery attempts that appear in refinance transactions are turning out to be a rising risk factor leading to claims that end up costing title insurers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Claims resulting from fraud or forgery now average $206,976, according to research conducted by the American Land Title Association and consulting and actuarial firm Milliman. They also account for over 40% of the total cost of refinance-related claims for title insurers, their report also found."This study underscores that refinances are by no means risk-free," ALTA CEO Chris Morton said in a press release. "Fraud and forgery, which cannot be detected through a public records search, are actually more common and more costly in refinance transactions compared to purchase transactions." Broken down by individual category, fraud made up 22.4% of the total loss share, while forgery represented 17.7%.  The monetary total amount comes in almost seven times more than the mean cost of $30,624 attributed to all other types of loss for title companies. The findings are based on data analysis of claims reported over a ten-year period from 2014 to 2023. Participant data included nearly 162,000 claims for both purchase and refinance transactions. The share of claims paid out for refinance-related forgery and fraud is also more than double the 20% incurred from purchases. While the average size of refinance claims are based on a wider range of monetary loss amounts compared to purchases, the severity of damages came in consistently higher, according to the report.  When refinance losses for the insurer are broken down, almost $139,000 arise from required payments remitted through the policies' terms, while approximately $68,000 were categorized as defense costs associated with the investigation of claims and legal representation of the insurance holder. The latest refinance figures show a marked upswing from the last 10-year report published by the two organizations in 2024. The combined percentage share of losses in the prior report, which grouped both refinance and purchases together, equaled 29%. The average cost per refinance claim for fraud and forgery is also close to 50% higher than corresponding amount in 2024's report of $143,000, with the total similarly factoring in both types of transactions. Through the first half of 2025, title insurers had paid out approximately $336 million worth of claims, inching up above the amount for the same time frame one year early of $333 million, according to ALTA's most recent market share analysis.

Independent mortgage bankers reported a second consecutive quarter of profits on their loan production, helped by the September rate drop and surge in application volume, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.Between originations and servicing income, roughly 85% of the 325 companies which participated in the Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report were profitable."After a series of volatile quarters since 2021, mortgage companies delivered healthier results in the third quarter," said Marina Walsh, the MBA's vice president of industry analysis, in a press release. "While third-quarter closed loan volume was relatively flat, and per-loan production expenses rose slightly compared to the second quarter, the increase in recorded production revenue drove profits higher in the third quarter."Contributors to third quarter profitabilityAfter 8 consecutive quarters of losses and 10 out of 12 between the second quarter of 2022 and the first quarter this year, IMBs have made money on their originations four out of the last six three month periods.The additional September application and rate lock volume was recognized as income in the third quarter by mortgage lenders. UWM Holdings, for example, attributed the September rate drop for its strong production quarter since 2021.But Walsh added that the September rate locks, minus any pipeline fall out, will be reflected as closed loan volume in the current period, along with any mark-to-market adjustments which will impact earnings.How much did lenders make per-loan in 3Q25IMBs made $1,201 per loan originated, up from $950 in the second quarter and $701 one year ago.Measured in basis points, the average pretax production profit in the third quarter was 33 basis points, a gain of 8 basis points from three months prior, when it was 25 basis points and almost double the year ago's 18 basis points. This was still below the long-term average of 40 basis points.Total production revenue, inclusive of fee income, net secondary marketing income and warehouse spread, was 359 basis points for the most recent period. This was up from 346 basis points in the second quarter and 341 basis points in the third quarter of 2024. On a per-loan basis, production revenues increased to $12,310 per loan in the third quarter, up from $11,914 per loan in the second quarter.But expenses, which includes commissions and compensation among other production-related items, rose quarter-to-quarter to 326 basis points from 321 basis points. For the third quarter last year, this was 323 basis points.Measured in dollars, this was $11,109 per loan in the third quarter, versus $10,965 for the second quarter and $10,716 one year ago.Servicing earnings in the 3QServicing net financial income fell slightly from the second quarter, to $29 per loan from $30. For the year ago period, servicers lost $25 per loan.Segment operating income, which among other things removes mortgage servicing rights amortization, changes in MSR values and any gains or losses from bulk sales, was $92 per loan in the third quarter. This compared with $90 in the second quarter and $93 per loan for the third quarter of 2024.

Initial applications for US jobless benefits totaled 232,000 in the week ended Oct. 18, according to the Labor Department website showing historical data for claims.Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, came in at 1.957 million, up slightly from 1.947 million in the prior week. For initial claims, weekly data for the previous three weeks weren't made available.A spokesperson for the Labor Department said a technical issue caused the early posting of some data, adding the complete series will be available by close of business on Thursday.READ MORE: Waller backs 25 bps 'risk management' rate cut in DecemberThe department did not release its weekly jobless claims report during the government shutdown, which ended last week, but it has published data on its website through other channels. Unadjusted state-level claims data were available for download throughout the shutdown. Economists have used those state figures along with pre-released seasonal adjustment factors to estimate weekly claims.The seasonally-adjusted initial claims figure was accessed through an online database, and the recently posted figure is roughly in line with prior estimates.The federal government shutdown delayed a number of key economic reports, including the monthly jobs report. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced an exception for the September consumer price index, which was released last month, to allow the Social Security Administration to calculate the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security recipients. The September jobs report, which was originally slated to publish Oct. 3, will now be released Thursday. 

US homebuilders' confidence barely rose this month as they struggled to lure cautious buyers off the sidelines with costly sales incentives.An index of market conditions from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo ticked up 1 point in November to 38. A value below 50 means more builders see conditions as poor than good. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimated sentiment to hold at 37.In November, 41% of builders reported cutting prices, a record in the post-Covid period, according to Tuesday's report. More broadly, 65% reported using sales incentives, unchanged from the prior two months.READ MORE: New-home loan growth slows as builders anticipate a slowdownDespite lower mortgage rates and tamer prices recently, consumers are still worried about the economy and job market. Layoffs are picking up while hiring remains sluggish, and weakness in spending is spreading from lower-income Americans into the middle class."We continue to see demand-side weakness as a softening labor market and stretched consumer finances are contributing to a difficult sales environment," NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz said in a statement.Data out earlier Tuesday showed US companies shed 2,500 jobs per week on average in the four weeks ended Nov. 1, according to ADP Research. Job gains were probably tepid in September, ahead of the government's report due Thursday that was delayed by the shutdown.READ MORE: New-home sales pace hits 2025 high despite dip in appsAmong the index's components, sales expectations in the next six months fell 3 points, while gauges of present sales and prospective buyer traffic each ticked up slightly. The group also said market uncertainty, exacerbated by the record long government shutdown, played a part in restraining sentiment.Despite the weak sentiment reading, builders are looking toward an improved spring selling season, encouraged by mortgage rates hovering near the lowest level in a year and some improvement in clearing an oversupply of houses, according to recent earnings calls. They're also gaining an affordability advantage over resold homes, and the heavy discounting is likely to continue next year, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Drew Reading said in an Oct. 29 note.Around the country, builder sentiment in the South, the US's biggest homebuilding region, as well as the West climbed to the highest since April. Sentiment in the Northeast fell by the most since February, while it was down in the Midwest to a lesser extent.The National Association of Realtors will give an update on the previously owned home market on Thursday, when it releases October existing-home sales.