An Unexpected Job Surge Confounds the Fed's Economic Models
Friday's jobs report suggests the possibility that the long-standing connection between a vigorous job market and high inflation has broken down. read more >
Friday's jobs report suggests the possibility that the long-standing connection between a vigorous job market and high inflation has broken down. read more >
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year rate fell to 6.09% from 6.13% last week. That's the lowest level since September. read more >
The Fed's rate increase Wednesday, though smaller than its half-point hike in December and the four three-quarter-point hikes before that, will likely further raise the costs of many consumer and business loans and the risk of a recession. read more >
It now expects the world economy to grow 2.9% this year. That forecast is better than the 2.7% expansion for 2023 that the IMF predicted in October. read more >
On an annual basis, wages and benefits grew 5.1% in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier. read more >
A change in its statement, if there is one, could be seen as signaling an eventual pause in the Fed's aggressive drive to raise borrowing costs. read more >
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year rate inched down to 6.13% from 6.15% last week. A year ago the average rate was 3.55%. read more >
However, due to inflation, the survey shows that businesses still expect to pay higher wages for the workers they are holding onto. read more >
The Fed's goal in raising interest rates has been to fight inflation by making borrowing more difficult and to slow economic growth. The strategy, though, hurts investment prices and risks slowing the economy too much and causing a recession. read more >
One reason for the tentative optimism is evidence that an acceleration in U.S. wages, which has benefited workers but also heightened inflation, is slowing. read more >
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year rate fell to 6.33% from 6.48% last week. A year ago the average rate was 3.45%. read more >
Even as inflation gradually slows, it remains a painful reality for many Americans, especially with such necessities as food, energy and rents having soared over the past 18 months. read more >
The four-week moving average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 1,750 to 212,500. read more >
America's employers added a solid 223,000 jobs in December, but last month's gain was the smallest in two years. read more >
A year ago the average rate was 3.22%, less than half of the current average rate. read more >
Applications for unemployment aid for the week ending Dec. 31 fell by 19,000 to 204,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. read more >
Stocks struggled all year as inflation put increasing pressure on consumers and raised concerns about economies slipping into recession. read more >
In the minutes of their mid-December meeting released Wednesday, the officials also underscored that a slowdown in their rate hikes — from four three-quarter point hikes in a row to a half-point increase — "was not an indication of any weakening" in their resolve to bring inflation back down to their 2% target. read more >
In another key metric, the number of people quitting their job rose to 4.2 million, up from about 4 million in October. read more >
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year rate increased to 6.42% from 6.27% last week. read more >
