Economy

HOUSTON, TEXAS – AUGUST 12: A newly sold home is shown on August 12, 2021 in Houston, Texas. Home prices have climbed during the pandemic as low interest rates and working from home has become more abundant. Home prices around the country continue to surge in the second quarter as strong demand continues to overwhelm

A For Sale sign is seen in front of a home in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images The already competitive housing market is getting even more so, and that is now cutting into mortgage demand. Even a small drop in interest rates couldn’t bring more buyers in, although it did boost refinance demand

In this article GSBD U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) delivers remarks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., November 1, 2021. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters The apparent failure of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan means that economic growth could be weaker than expected next year, according to Goldman Sachs. The plan

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks prior to signing an executive order intended to reduce bureaucracy around government services for the public, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., December 13, 2021. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters President Joe Biden signed a debt ceiling increase into law Thursday, ensuring the U.S. will not

Jobless claims were higher than expected last week after previously hitting their lowest level since 1969, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Initial filings for unemployment insurance for the week ended Dec. 11 totaled 206,000, above the 195,000 Dow Jones estimate and a gain of 18,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised 188,000. Though the weekly

Count former U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios among the experts who sees brighter days ahead for the U.S. economy. If she’s right, it could mean good news for businesses and shoppers. “I’m much more optimistic about 2022 than I was about 2021,” Rios, who served in that role as part of the Obama Administration from 2009

Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images Here comes the Fed. After 20 months of the most aggressive easing policies ever put in the place by the Federal

Construction workers frame a new home being built by CastleRock Communities in the Sunfield neighborhood of Buda, Texas, U.S., on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. Matthew Busch | Bloomberg | Getty Images Surprisingly strong housing demand, even in the usually slower season for housing, has homebuilders feeling increasingly confident. Builder sentiment in the single-family housing market

A sign advertising home loan rates for purchase or refinancing at a Bank of America in New York. Scott Mlyn | CNBC A brief surge in mortgage refinance demand fizzled fast, after interest rates resumed their climb along with the stock market. The initial scare from the Covid omicron variant caused rates to drop for

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell attends the House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 30, 2021. Al Drago | Reuters The Federal Reserve is expected to announce a dramatic policy shift Wednesday that will clear the way for a first interest rate hike next year. Markets are anticipating the Fed

Wholesale prices increased at their quickest pace on record in November in the latest sign that the inflation pressures bedeviling the economy are still present, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The producer price index for final demand products increased 9.6% over the previous 12 months after rising another 0.8% in November. Economists had been looking

Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. Samuel Corum | Bloomberg | Getty Images If the Federal Reserve meets expectations next week and announces a more aggressive unwind of the measures taken to boost the economy, it will

Mohamed El-Erian Olivia Michael | CNBC Calling inflation “transitory” was a historically bad move for the Federal Reserve, according to Allianz Chief Economic Advisor Mohamed El-Erian. “The characterization of inflation as transitory is probably the worst inflation call in the history of the Federal Reserve, and it results in a high probability of a policy

Weekly jobless claims tumbled last week, reaching a fresh 52-year low as the U.S. jobs market climbs out of its pandemic-era hole, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Initial filings for unemployment insurance totaled 184,000 for the week ended Dec. 4, the lowest going back to Sept. 6, 1969, which saw 182,000. Initial claims for unemployment

Gabriela Chirinos pumps gas into her vehicle at a Shell station on November 22, 2021 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images If the consensus is correct, the last time inflation was this high was in the early years of the Reagan administration – as the U.S. found itself amid a steep and persistent

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images Inflation grew at its fastest clip in almost four decades last month — and rising costs are hitting the biggest areas of household budgets. Inflation measures changes in the price consumers pay for goods and services. It jumped 6.8% in the year through November 2021, the largest annual spike

Inflation accelerated at its fastest pace since 1982 in November, the Labor Department said Friday, putting pressure on the economic recovery and raising the stakes for the Federal Reserve. The consumer price index, which measures the cost of a wide-ranging basket of goods and services, rose 0.8% for the month, good for a 6.8% pace

WASHINGTON – Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden said the ongoing labor shortage plaguing the nation was a primary focus for America’s defense business. “When I think about the challenges that we all might face going into next year, the labor shortages that we’re seeing are suddenly one that’s top of mind,” Warden told CNBC’s Morgan