Economy

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

Jobless claims rose less than expected last week as employers weighed a wintertime spike in Covid-19 cases against expected relief from a pending $900 billion stimulus package, according to a Labor Department report published Wednesday. The number of first-time unemployment-benefits filers decelerated to 803,000 in the week ending Dec. 19. Economists polled by Dow Jones

A ‘Open House’ sign stands outside a new home for sale in the D.R. Horton Cambridge at Southbury development in Oswego, Illinois. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images Sales of newly built homes came in far weaker than expected for November, and builder stocks are not taking it well. Shares of the biggest names,

A house for sale on December 17, 2020 in Scituate, Massachusetts. Matt Stone | MediaNews Group | Getty Images After five consecutive months of gains, closed sales of existing homes turned lower in November. They fell 2.5% on a month-to-month basis to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.69 million units, according to the National

David Solomon, CEO, Goldman Sachs, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 23, 2020. Adam Galacia | CNBC Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said that small businesses it surveyed are in dire need of another round of emergency Paycheck Protection Program funding. “They really have needs; 90% of them have exhausted their

The Fed may see a brighter long-term outlook when it releases its economic forecasts Wednesday due to vaccine developments, but it also has the opportunity to disappoint at least some investors who are expecting immediate changes in its bond buying program. The market has been divided about whether the Fed would extend the duration of

A house under construction is seen in Culver City, a neighborhood of Los Angeles on November 21, 2020. Chris Delmas | AFP | Getty Images After three straight months of record highs, homebuilder confidence in the single-family housing market pulled back in December. Builders say they are concerned that buyers are starting to experience sticker

Jobless claims unexpectedly rose last week as the coronavirus pandemic continues to pressure the economy while lawmakers struggle to push through new government aid, the Labor Department said Thursday. The number of first-time unemployment-benefits filers totaled 885,000 in the week ending Dec. 12, the most since the week of Sept. 5. Economists polled by Dow

People ride scooters past the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. Erin Scott | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Federal Reserve dialed up its economic expectations slightly for the end of this year as well as for 2021, according to the central bank’s Summary of Economic

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday made a key adjustment to its efforts to support the economy, while upgrading its outlook for growth. As expected, the Fed held benchmark interest rates near zero following the conclusion of its two-day meeting. Investors were watching whether the Fed would present outcomes-based guidance in which it would state the