Tag Archives: interest rates

Dear Fed—Please Don’t Raise Interest Rates Again!

Popular Economics Weekly The Federal Reserve FOMC meeting this week is expected to conclude with another 0.25 percent rate hike; but it’s happening at the wrong time.  This is the rate that controls credit card interest and the Prime Lending … Continue reading

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Our Housing Supply Is Catching Up (Revised)!

The Mortgage Corner Nationwide housing starts rose 13.7 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.29 million units after a slight upward revision to the September reading, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of … Continue reading

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Is Our Housing Supply Catching Up?

The Mortgage Corner Nationwide housing starts rose 13.7 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.29 million units after a slight upward revision to the September reading, according to newly released data from the U.S. HUD and … Continue reading

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Where Are the New Homes?

The Mortgage Corner There is a surging demand for new home that builders find hard to meet.  New-home sales fell in July to 571,000 units, though May and June totals were revised upward. That’s because the Census Bureau estimate comes … Continue reading

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More Job Openings, Fewer Hirings Mean What?

Popular Economics Weekly The job market continues to fluctuate, as job openings rose sharply in June to 6.163 million from 5.702 million in May. Hires, however, fell sharply, to 5.356 million from 5.459 million. This data set can be volatile … Continue reading

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Home Sales Disappoint

The Mortgage Corner Existing-home sales were at a 5.52 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in June, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. That was 0.7 percent above the year-ago rate, but 1.8 percent lower than in May and marked … Continue reading

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Full Employment Is Here, But No Inflation (Revised)

Financial FAQs The Bureau of Labor’s JOLTS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey out Tuesday showed a huge boost in hiring and shrinkage of available jobs. What to make of it with almost nonexistent inflation, and the Fed’s Janet Yellen … Continue reading

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Housing Starts Rebound, For How Long?

The Mortgage Corner The Conference Board’s Index of Leading Indicators that predicts future growth says it is being boosted by a rebound in housing starts, which means more badly needed new homes being built. Its June report posted a 0.6 … Continue reading

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Interest Rates On the Rise!

Financial FAQs Central Banks everywhere seem to be following our Federal Reserve in selling bonds they had accumulated to keep interest rates low for so long—in fact, since the end of the Great Recession. They also seem to be crossing … Continue reading

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Why Did Fed Raise Rates Again?

Popular Economics Weekly U.S. growth cycles have averaged about 8 years since WWII, yet the Federal Reserve just announced they were raising their overnight rate for the third time—to 1.25 percent. It also forecast that the unemployment rate could fall … Continue reading

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