Tag Archives: GDP growth

Why The Years of Slow Growth?

Popular Economics Weekly Pundits have decried it. Donald Trump has criticized the ‘lousy’ U.S. economy in many of his Tweets, and economists have lamented the 2.4 percent GDP growth rate since 2000, at the time of the dot-com bubble bust. … Continue reading

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Case-Shiller Home Prices At New Highs

Financial FAQs The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 5.6 percent annual gain in October, up from 5.4 percent last month. The 10-City Composite posted a 4.3 percent annual … Continue reading

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New-Home Sales, Confidence Also At New Highs

The Mortgage Corner Just as existing-home sales are at their cyclical highs, the Commerce Department on Friday said new home sales increased 5.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000 units last month. That was the second highest … Continue reading

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Why Are Consumers Happier?

Financial FAQs Why are consumers much happier during these holidays? The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for November jumped 6.6 points to a six-month high while the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index jumped 6.3 points to 107.1 for its … Continue reading

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Housing Starts, Home Sales ‘Yuge’

The Mortgage Corner Housing starts surged 25.5 percent in October to a 1.323 million annualized rate. This is the best rate of the cycle since August 2007 with the monthly percentage gain the strongest since 1982, says Econoday. It and … Continue reading

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Full Employment Reached—161,000 Payroll Jobs

Popular Economics Weekly Average hourly earnings are up 2.8 percent annually, a recovery high. Nonfarm payroll growth was up 161,000 with upward revisions adding a net total 44,000 to September (191,000) and August (156,000). The unemployment rate is down 1 … Continue reading

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Will Low Interest Rates Continue?

The Mortgage Corner This question is behind much of the stock and bond market gyrations. We are near full employment with a 5.0 percent unemployment rate, some 11 million jobs created since the end of the Great Recession, yet we … Continue reading

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Holiday Cheers–Consumers Feel Happier!

Popular Economics Weekly It’s back to school time, and consumers are feeling the holiday spirit already. Americans in September were most optimistic about the economy since the summer of 2007, in part because of a happier view of the U.S. … Continue reading

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The Fed Can’t Really Grow US Economy

Popular Economics Weekly Most eyes are watching Janet Yellen and the Fed’s Jackson Hole conference, where she hinted at a possible raise in short term rates this September. Higher rates are really not needed. Nothing she says in Jackson Hole … Continue reading

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255,000 Jobs Added, Economy Still Growing

Financial FAQs Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 255,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 percent, said the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics today. This confirms earlier reports from the manufacturing and service sectors that economic … Continue reading

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