Consumers feeling

less confident

American consumers are feeling less confident this month and concerns about jobs rose significantly. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 98.7 in September, from 105.6 in August. It was the biggest month-to-month decline since August 2021. The index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months. The measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market fell to 81.7 from 86.3 in July. Consumers’ view of current conditions fell to 124.3 in September from 134.3 last month.

Kmart closes last

full-scale store

Attention, Kmart shoppers, the end is near! The erstwhile retail giant renowned for its Blue Light Specials is shuttering its last full-scale store in mainland United States. The store, located in swank Bridgehampton, New York, on Long Island, is slated to close Oct. 20. That’s according to Denise Rivera, an employee who answered the phone at the store late Monday. That will leave only a small Kmart store in Miami. The retailer closed its last New Jersey store last year. It has a handful of stores in Guam and in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In its heyday, Kmart had more 2,000 stores in the U.S.

TikTok to end

music streaming

TikTok Inc. plans to discontinue its music service in November, ending a years-long experiment to compete with Spotify Technology SA and Apple Inc. TikTok Music will go offline on Nov. 28 and customer data will be deleted, the music division said in a post on its website. Users were told to transfer playlists to other services no later than Oct. 28. A London-based spokesperson for the business didn’t immediately respond to a call requesting comment.

U.S. wants to ban

Chinese auto tech

The Biden administration on Monday proposed banning the import or sale of internet-connected vehicles containing Chinese or Russian components, sounding an alarm about the potential for modern transport to be used as a tool for spying or to create domestic chaos during a conflict. The move follows seven months of deliberation and increasing concern over the risk of allowing foreign adversaries to obtain data on American driving habits or to remotely control American vehicles via internet connections, said administration officials. While the official announcement flagged Russia as well as China, officials’ emphasis was clearly on the risk posed by Chinese components. At issue are the hardware and software that connect vehicles to remote computers using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or cellular technology, or that provide the onboard brains for driverless vehicles. 

— Bulletin wire reports