Category Archives: Weekly Financial News

Service Sector Economy Booming

Financial FAQs There was a huge jump in the U.S. service sector economy, our largest sector, some 67 percent of all U.S. economic activity. This is why we keep growing while most other developed and emerging economies aren’t. “The Institute … Continue reading

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April Private Payrolls Increase 171,000

Popular Economics Weekly But government payrolls lost 11,000 jobs, so total nonfarm payroll employment increased just 160,000 in April. Over the prior 12 months, employment growth had averaged 232,000 per month. The April jobs report was well below Wall Street’s … Continue reading

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Fannie Mae, GSEs, Even More Important

The Mortgage Corner With news that Fannie Mae, one of the GSEs now managed by the Federal Housing Finance Authority (and US Treasury) just showed a $1.1B profit in Q1, but must pass all of it profits to Treasury since … Continue reading

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Bernie’s Economic Platform—Part II

Popular Economics Weekly Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump won their respective Indiana primaries, and we know why. In February air-conditioner manufacturer Carrier, a wing of United Technologies, announced that beginning next year it will move its Indianapolis production to Mexico … Continue reading

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Is Bernie’s Economic Platform Impossible?

Financial FAQs It looks like Hillary Clinton’s nomination as the Democratic candidate is assured, but are Bernie Sander’s economic proposals impossible to achieve, as many mainstream economists maintain? Bernie wants to be able to introduce them into their platform at … Continue reading

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Consumers Boost Q1 GDP Growth

Popular Economics Weekly Consumer spending, largely on services, helped hold up first-quarter real GDP which came in at just 0.5 percent rate, but is still up 2 percent YoY. Consumer spending (personal consumption expenditures) rose at a 1.9 percent rate, … Continue reading

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Fed Stays in Accommodative Mode

Popular Economics Weekly It looks like Janet Yellen’s Fed will continue to keep interest rates low this year, based on the latest FOMC press release. This is great news for the housing market, in particular, but not necessarily for consumers … Continue reading

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Why Not More Homes For Sale?

Financial FAQs Many Realtors and economists have been asking this question. Why such a low housing inventory? Total existing-home sales jumped 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.33 million in March from a downwardly revised 5.07 million … Continue reading

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Who Opposes Overtime Pay Increase?

Financial FAQs That’s a no-brainer—Republicans in Congress, of course. Who else would oppose updating the safeguards against working more than 40 hours without overtime pay, part of the New Deal that President Roosevelt called the most important part of the … Continue reading

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Motor Vehicles, Housing Will Power 2016 Economy

Popular Economics Weekly Even though Q1 2016 GDP growth looks weak for a number of reasons (such as lower exports and slumping oil prices that depress energy sector earnings), there are reasons it can go higher in 2016. Oil prices … Continue reading

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