Tag Archives: interest rates

Higher Productivity Lowers Inflation

Financial FAQs Why has the Fed got it so wrong with inflation, even though the inflation rate has been falling steadily for more than a year? Paul Krugman in a recent NYTimes Op-ed said the personal consumption expenditure deflator (PCE) … Continue reading →

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Too Many New Jobs?

Popular Economics Weekly FREDavghourlywages The Fed Governors won’t like this morning’s unemployment report. The U.S. Census Bureau just reported that 263,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were created in November and average hourly wages are still rising 5.1 percent annually. To make … Continue reading →

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Home Prices Keep Rising

The Mortgage Corner Calculated Risk I said last month the housing market was cooling with the fall weather, but maybe not yet. Because housing prices are still rising in double digits, although they may be leveling off. The S&P CoreLogic … Continue reading →

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No Real Slowdown in US Recovery

Popular Economics Weekly FRED The latest survey of US businesses shows little diminishing of economic activity in the near future. A survey of senior business executives in service-oriented companies, such as retailers and banks, rebounded to a three-month high of … Continue reading →

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Why the Housing Shortage?

The Mortgage Corner Calculated Risk Booming Realtors’ existing-home sales are showing there is a very severe housing shortage with record sales and a record low housing inventory. Calculated Risk says the for-sale inventory is was down 18.6 percent year-over-year (YoY) … Continue reading →

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Should The Fed Boost Inflation?

Financial FAQs FRED10yrInflation The Federal Reserve is so desperate to support growth in this pandemic that it wants to allow inflation to rise above its 2 percent target range. Why? Inflation and rising prices are usually a sign of economic … Continue reading →

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Why Housing Boom – Part II

The Mortgage Corner Calculated Risk Total existing-home sales, https://www.nar.realtor/existing-home-sales, completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, jumped 24.7 percent from June to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million in July. The previous record monthly increase in … Continue reading →

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What’s Next…?

Financial FAQs MarketWatch U.S. stocks finished mostly higher Tuesday, with the S&P 500 index notching its first record close since Feb. 19, and marking the quickest recovery from bear-market territory in its history, according to Dow Jones Market Data.  So … Continue reading →

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What Future Job Growth?

Financial FAQs Calculated Risk The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) put out by the Labor Department (BLS) probably only makes sense to economists, because it gives a picture of the job market in coming months, as well as … Continue reading →

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Employment Picture Still Unclear

Popular Economics Weekly Marketwatch.com The official unemployment rate fell for the third month in a row to 10.2 percent from 11.1 percent, the government said Friday. The hot pace of U.S. employment growth in the late spring gave way in … Continue reading →

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