Scott Horsley

Discount retailer Target says customers are keeping a tight grip on their pocketbooks, with most of their spending devoted to food and other essentials.

Spending on discretionary items like home furnishings is down.

Target reported a drop in same-store sales for the most recent quarter and lowered its profit forecast for the full year.

A federal judge ruled Facebook's parent company does not have a monopoly in the social networking space.

The decision means Meta will not have to spin off its Instagram or WhatsApp features.

And new figures from the Commerce Department show the nation's trade deficit shrank in August as higher tariffs took effect.

That report, along with many others, was delayed by the government shutdown.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

Discount retailer Target says customers are keeping a tight grip on their pocketbooks, with most of their spending devoted to food and other essentials.

Spending on discretionary items like home furnishings is down.

Target reported a drop in same-store sales for the most recent quarter and lowered its profit forecast for the full year.

A federal judge ruled Facebook's parent company does not have a monopoly in the social networking space.

The decision means Meta will not have to spin off its Instagram or WhatsApp features.

And new figures from the Commerce Department show the nation's trade deficit shrank in August as higher tariffs took effect.

That report, along with many others, was delayed by the government shutdown.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

Now that the federal shutdown is over, government statisticians will start to release those economic report cards we've been missing for the last six weeks.

The Commerce Department says it will provide an update on the August trade deficit on Wednesday.

The Labor Department will deliver the September jobs report the following day.

Both of those reports were supposed to come out in early October.