JULY 20, 2020 – MORTGAGE RATES FALL TO RECORD LOWS The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 2.98% last week, the lowest levels in almost 50 years of record keeping. As a result, applications to refinance a home loan, which are most sensitive to weekly rate moves, jumped 12% for the week and were 107% higher than …
July 13, 2020 — Producer Price Index Falls Unexpectedly in June
JULY 13, 2020 – PRODUCER PRICE INDEX FALLS UNEXPECTEDLY IN JUNE US producer prices fell 0.2 percent in June after rebounding 0.4 percent in May. The 12-month PPI is down 0.8 percent. The US Economy continues to face depressed demand as the Coronavirus epidemic continues its hold on the country. Economists expected the PPI to climb by 0.4 percent in …
July 6, 2020 — Job Numbers Rise in June, but some Backtracking is Expected
JULY 6, 2020 – JOB NUMBERS RISE IN JUNE, BUT SOME BACKTRACKING IS EXPECTED The US economy created jobs at a record pace in June as more restaurants and bars resumed operations after being shuttered for months. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 4.8 million in June, the Labor Department reported Thursday. This was the greatest increase since the government started keeping …
June 29, 2020 — Unemployment Claims Fall for Now
JUNE 29, 2020 – UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS FALL FOR NOW People receiving unemployment benefits fell below 20 million for the first time in two months. Weekly numbers have remained high as new jobless claims totaled 1.48 million last week, exceeding expectations for 1.35 million claims. Numbers are not expected to drop significantly in the near term, as coronavirus cases continue to …
June 22, 2020 — Retail Sales Soar by 17.7% in May
JUNE 22, 2020 – RETAIL SALES SOAR BY 17.7 PERCENT IN MAY AS consumers returned to newly reopened stores in May, the shopping began. Retail sales were up 17.7 percent in May, far outpacing the last record of 6.7 percent set in October 2001, a month after 9/11. Economists were expecting to see an 8 percent increase. If cars and …
June 15, 2020 — Fed Will Keep Interest Rates at Zero for the Foreseeable Future
JUNE 15, 2020 – FED WILL KEEP RATES AT ZERO FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE The Federal Reserve met last week. No surprise to anyone, they announced that rates will remain at zero until the economy recovers from the coronavirus. The FOMC wants to provide support for the economy as long as possible, which is predicted to be at least two …
June 8, 2020 — Jobs Numbers Rise to the Surprise of Economists
JUNE 8, 2020 – JOBS NUMBERS RISE TO THE SURPRISE OF ECONOMISTS The May payrolls were released Friday, showing an increase of 2.5 million jobs and a drop in the unemployment rate to 13.3 percent from close to 15 percent in April. Economists were expected a further shedding of 8.3 million jobs and a corresponding rise in the unemployment rate …
June 1, 2020 — Consumer Spending Sharply Down; New Unemployment Claims Ease
JUNE 1, 2020 – CONSUMER SPENDING SHARPLY DOWN; NEW UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS EASE US consumer spending fell by a record 13.6 percent in April. This is the steepest decline since 1959. Economists believe this is likely to be the bottom, but also means the economy is in for a slow recovery. Even though some businesses have been reopening during the month …
May 26, 2020 — Fed Chair Calls for more Government Help
MAY 26, 2020 – FED CHAIR CALLS FOR MORE GOVERNMENT HELP Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated last week that additional spending by Washington could be needed to prevent long term damage from high unemployment and surges of bankruptcies. He said, “The scope and speed of this downturn are without modern precedent and are significantly worse than any recession since WWII.” …
May 18, 2020 — Record Drop in Retail Sales for April
MAY 18, 2020 – RECORD DROP IN RETAIL SALES FOR APRIL 68 percent of the country’s economy is reliant on personal consumption expenditures. The April data came in last week, reporting drop of 16.4 percent in consumer spending. March was down 8.3 percent, and the aggregate Q1 results showed a fall of 7.6 percent. To put the numbers into perspective, …