Category Archives: Weekly Financial News

What is Our State of the Union?

Posted on March 3, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs CDC.gov This is really all we need to know about Americans’ State of the Union’ that President Biden touted last Tuesday in his annual address. Just look how low COVID infection rates have fallen in the CDC’s most … Continue reading →

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What Happens to Economic Growth This Year?

Posted on February 26, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs BEA.gov We now have a looming Cold War with Russia due to its invasion of the Ukraine, as well as inflation to worry about this year. What will it do to economic growth and jobs? Inflation won’t recede … Continue reading →

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Most Homes Under Construction in 49 Years!

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Calculated Risk Builders are trying to catch up to demand. Calculated Risk’s Bill McBride per the US Census Bureau reports the largest number of homes under construction since 1973. Privately‐owned housing starts in December were at a … Continue reading →

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Surprise Retail Sales Growth!

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly FREDretailsales The New Year brought in another surprise. Sales at U.S. retailers such as Amazon and Best Buy jumped 3.8 percent in January. Americans bought more things: cars, furniture, consumer electronics in a sign that consumers are … Continue reading →

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What Makes Americans Happy?

Posted on February 11, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Why do economists and pundits like to focus so much on consumer confidence, which fluctuates wildly, as the U Michigan sentiment survey graph shows? It rose as high as 112 in February 2000 during the heady Clinton … Continue reading →

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Inflation is Not So Scary

Posted on February 10, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs FREDcpi It can be no surprise that retail prices have risen 7.5 percent in a year. Yet COVID-19 has scared financial markets and some 3 million workers from returning to their pre-pandemic jobs. The question is what can … Continue reading →

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Surprise January Jobs Growth!

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly MarketWatch.com In another surprise that will confound the pessimists who see a looming recession, the U.S. added 467,000 jobs in January and hiring was much stronger at the end of 2021 than originally reported. The U.S. also … Continue reading →

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Too Many Job Openings

Posted on February 2, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Financial FAQs Calculated Risk The Labor Department’s JOLTS report showed the labor market as tight as ever in January, which could be bad news for new job creation in Friday’s Labor Department unemployment report. Employers can’t hire enough employees in … Continue reading →

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Q4 Economic Growth Explodes

Posted on January 27, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly BEA.gov It looks like the Omicron variant has actually spurred higher growth. The fourth quarter GDP ‘first estimate’ of growth  exploded to 6.9 percent, surpassing most estimates of 5 to 6 percent. GDP got a big lift at … Continue reading →

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Best Home Sales in Years

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Home sales are holding up and prices slowly moderating, even with limited inventories. December new-home sales jumped 12 percent in a year, according to the US Census Bureau. Also in 2021, existing-home sales totaled 6.12 million – … Continue reading →

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