Economy

Federal Reserve Jerome Powell testifies during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on “The Quarterly CARES Act Report to Congress” on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 1, 2020. Susan Walsh | Reuters Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will try to avoid sounding hawkish in any way when he talks Wednesday afternoon about the Fed’s commitment

A real estate for sale sign shows the home as being “Under Contract” in Washington, DC, November 19, 2020. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images Sharp gains in home prices and a slight rise in interest rates combined to weaken demand for mortgages last week. Total mortgage application volume fell 4.1% from the previous

Real estate broker Rebecca Van Camp places a “Sold” placard on her sign in front of a home in Meridian, Idaho, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. Darin Oswald | Tribune News Service | Getty Images The strong surge in home prices is not slowing down, thanks to high buyer demand and a record low supply

An ‘Open House’ sign is displayed as potential home buyers arrive at a property for sale in Columbus, Ohio. Ty Wright | Bloomberg | Getty Images Record-low mortgage rates may now be a headline of the past. Now, several weeks of rising rates are dousing what was incredibly high demand for refinancing. That pulled total

A contractor moves roofing material on a home under construction at the Toll Brothers Cantera at Gale Ranch housing development in San Ramon, Calif. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Just two months ago, homebuilders had never been happier. Buyer demand, driven by the pandemic-induced desire for larger newer homes in the suburbs,

Americans continued to hit the unemployment line in large numbers as the ongoing surge of Covid cases added to America’s unemployment problem last week. Jobless claims totaled 900,000 for the week ended Jan. 16, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was slightly less than the Dow Jones estimate of 925,000 and below the previous week’s

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell affirmed his commitment to keeping interest rates low for the foreseeable future even as he expressed hope for a strong economic recovery. “When the time comes to raise interest rates, we’ll certainly do that, and that time, by the way, is no time soon,” the central bank chief said Thursday

First-time claims for unemployment insurance jumped to 965,000 last week amid signs of a slowdown in hiring due to pandemic restrictions, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The total was worse than Wall Street estimates of 800,000 and above the previous week’s total of 784,000. Markets reacted little to the number, as the decline in economic

Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard speaks at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., March 1, 2017. Brian Snyder | Reuters Unemployment for the lowest-paid workers in the U.S. is above 20%, a figure that Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard said underscores the importance of policy help

A for sale sign sits outside a house in Miami Beach. Carlos Barria | Reuters After setting more than a dozen record lows last year, mortgage rates began 2021 on an upward climb, and that lit a fire under borrowers, fearing they might miss the last of the lowest rates. Mortgage applications to refinance a

An independent contractor to FedEx Corp. unloads packages from a delivery truck on Cyber Monday in New York, U.S., on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images U.S. online purchases over the 2020 holidays grew 32.2% from 2019, totaling a record $188.2 billion as shoppers stayed home and shopped on the

Job creation came to a halt in December as restrictions brought on by surging Covid-19 cases hammered virus-sensitive industries. The Labor Department reported Friday that nonfarm payrolls fell by 140,000. That was below expectations for 50,000 from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate was 6.7%, compared to the 6.8% estimate.Since a recovery that

An ‘Open House’ sign is displayed in the front yard of a home for sale in Columbus, Ohio. Ty Wright | Bloomberg | Getty Images The stunning surge in home buying, brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, may finally be easing up. Mortgage rates are hovering near record lows, but buyers are experiencing sticker shock

First-time filings for unemployment insurance were little changed over the past week despite other indicators that the labor market weakened at the end of the 2020. Weekly claims totaled 787,000 for the week ended Jan. 2, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was less than the Dow Jones estimate of 815,000 and a slight decrease

A picture illustration shows U.S. 100 dollar bank notes taken in Tokyo Yuriko Nakao | Reuters The amount of currency in circulation soared last year at a rate unseen since World War II, providing what historically has been a good sign for the economy. Amid a massive influx of cash from fiscal and monetary authorities,

Private payrolls in December contracted for the first time since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report Wednesday from ADP. The decrease of 123,000 provided a sign that the U.S. economy had cooled considerably heading into the end of 2020. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting growth of 60,000.

Homes in Memphis, Tennessee. Getty Images Home prices are rising across the nation, but the Covid pandemic is turning the usual geographical trends on their heads. Home values have historically risen most sharply in large cities on the coasts, where supply is leaner and demand is stronger. That is no longer the case. Smaller metropolitan

The number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time unexpectedly fell last week, marking its second straight decline. Initial jobless claims declined by 19,000 to 787,000 in the week ended Dec. 26, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected initial jobless claims to rise to 828,000. The previous