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1. How a US government shutdown could affect travel
With a possible federal government shutdown looming, people with plans to travel to or within the U.S. face disruption of their trips, the New York Times reports. The loss of funding would mean nonessential federal operations will stop functioning at midnight tonight.
“The longer a shutdown drags on, the more likely we are to see longer TSA lines, flight delays and cancellations, national parks in disrepair and unnecessary delays in modernizing travel infrastructure,” Geoff Freeman, president of the U.S. Travel Association, said in a statement.
2. Maryland considers ending housing foster children in hotels
Following the death of a 16-year-old girl under state care who was housed in an East Baltimore hotel, Maryland lawmakers are considering ending the practice of housing foster children in hotels, CBS News reports. An independent audit of the practice found the state's Department of Human Services housed 280 foster care children in hotels in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, 82 of which had stays between three months and two years.
Often the state relies on private care vendors to help with the foster care children, but the audit found many are not appropriately licensed or supervised.
"Since one-on-one vendors are not licensed providers, there is a lack of assurance that children in their care received satisfactory services," auditors wrote. "Other deficiencies… include a lack of criminal background checks for individuals employed by these vendors."
3. UK hoteliers seek ways to add value
Hoteliers and other panelists speaking at the Annual Hospitality Conference in Manchester, England, said that while conditions are challenging in the United Kingdom, they do have some factors working in their favor, reports CoStar News Hotels' Terence Baker.
Chris Hare, senior European economist at HSBC, said the U.K. had the fastest-growing economy in the Group of Seven countries in the first half of 2025 even though gross domestic product still only increased 0.9% year over year. The U.K. frontloaded much of its trade before the U.S. tariffs started, and there was a “flurry of housing activity before the rise in Stamp Duty Land Tax” — a property tax — on April 1.
“But there is some strength and resilience behind that, and the service sector has withstood economic uncertainty,” Hare added.
4. US consumer confidence falls again
The Consumer Confidence Index by the Conference Board dropped by 3.6 points in September to 94.2, down from 97.9 in August, according to a news release. The Present Situation Index fell by 7 points to 125.4, and the Expectations Index dipped by 1.3 points to 73.4.
"Consumer confidence weakened in September, declining to the lowest level since April 2025," said Stephanie Guichard, senior economist, Global Indicators at The Conference Board, in the release. "The present situation component registered its largest drop in a year. Consumers' assessment of business conditions was much less positive than in recent months, while their appraisal of current job availability fell for the ninth straight month to reach a new multiyear low. This is consistent with the decline in job openings. Expectations also weakened in September, but to a lesser extent. Consumers were a bit more pessimistic about future job availability and future business conditions but optimism about future income increased, mitigating the overall decline in the Expectations Index."
5. Chinese manufacturing shrinks sixth month
A survey shows that manufacturing activity in China shrank for the sixth straight month in September, Reuters reports. Producers appear to be waiting for stimulus to drive up domestic demand clarity on the government's trade deal with the U.S.
The official purchase managers' index reached 49.8 in September, a six-month high, but it's still below the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction, the news agency reports.