U.S. industrial production slipped 0.1 percent in May, primarily dragged by a drop in manufacturing caused by a major fire at a parts supplier for trucks. The Federal Reserve said Friday that the manufacturing component of industrial production fell 0.7 ...
Read More »For-sale signs vanish and March home prices jump 6.8 pct
U.S. home prices climbed in March with buyers paying a premium for ownership as the number of properties up for sale declines, and mortgage rates increase. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home-price index released Tuesday increased 6.8 percent in March ...
Read More »Average US 30-year mortgage rate rose to 4.47 percent
Long-term U.S. mortgage rates climbed upward this week, slightly worsening affordability for homebuyers. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages rose to 4.47 percent from 4.42 percent last week. This benchmark rate averaged ...
Read More »Average 30-year mortgage rates rose to 4.45 percent
Long-term U.S. mortgage rates are ticking up slightly this week, the 10th increase in the past 11 weeks. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 4.45 percent from 4.44 percent last ...
Read More »For many factory towns, white-collar job loss hurts the most
With the abandoned smokestacks off the bay and ramshackle factories along 12th Street, it’s easy to pin the blame for Erie, Pennsylvania’s plight on the loss of manufacturing jobs to China and Mexico. Many hold the belief that shuttered factories ...
Read More »US February housing starts fell 7 percent from January
U.S. homebuilders broke ground on fewer apartment complexes in February, causing overall housing starts to fall 7 percent. The Commerce Department said Friday that housing starts last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.24 million, a decline ...
Read More »Those tax breaks in the GOP plan? Enjoy them while they last
President Donald Trump has touted his tax overhaul as a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Yet the plan Senate Republicans have embraced could force lawmakers to rewrite the tax code repeatedly for years to come. The main reason is that some of its ...
Read More »US pending home sales surged 3.5 percent in October
More people signed contracts in October to buy homes, ending three straight months of declines. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that its index of pending home sales jumped 3.5 percent to 109.3 in October. Despite the increase, the ...
Read More »US job growth slows to 156K; unemployment up to 4.4 pct.
U.S. job growth slowed in August as employers added 156,000 jobs, though still enough to suggest that most businesses remain confident in an economy now in its ninth year of recovery from the Great Recession. The unemployment rate ticked up ...
Read More »10 years after housing peaked, US is more of a renter nation
It’s a troublesome story playing out across America in the 10 years since the housing bubble peaked and then burst in a ruinous crash: As real estate has climbed back, homeowners are thriving while renters are struggling. For many longtime ...
Read More »US builders increase home construction in April
Builders ramped up construction of new homes in April, suggesting that the market remains solid despite sluggish economic growth at the beginning of the year. Housing starts climbed 6.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million units, ...
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