Economy

The number of first-time unemployment-benefits filers fell to the lowest level in the pandemic, declining for a second straight week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Initial weekly U.S. jobless claims came in at 751,000 for the week ending Oct. 24, down 40,000 from the previous week. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected initial jobless claims

A Sale Pending sign is seen in front of a home in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images Potential homebuyers may be hitting the limit of what they can afford. Pending home sales, a measure of signed contracts on existing homes, fell 2.2% in September compared with August, according to the National Association of

The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building stands in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. Erin Scott | Bloomberg via Getty Images The Federal Reserve has lowered the barriers on its lending program for smaller businesses as part of an effort to broaden the appeal of the sparsely used facility. In another pair

Coming off the worst quarter in history, the U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace ever in the third quarter as a nation battered by an unprecedented pandemic started to put itself back together. Third-quarter gross domestic product, a measure of the total goods and services produced in the July-to-September period, expanded at a 33.1%

A Regal Cinemas movie theater stands at night on 42nd Street in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020. Amir Hamja | Bloomberg | Getty Images Third quarter GDP is expected to grow at a sharp double digit pace, but the economy is still behind where it was earlier in the year and may

Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing on September 23, 2020 in Washington, DC. Stefani Reynolds | Pool | Getty Images Federal Reserve officials continue to push Congress to provide more help to the U.S. economy, and with good reason: The central bank

Strong demand and a limited supply of homes have caused home price gains to accelerate dramatically. Prices beat expectations, rising 5.7% annually in August, up from 4.8% in July, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index. The 10-City Composite posted a 4.7% gain, up from 3.5% in the previous month. The 20-City

A Democratic sweep in the coming U.S. elections will likely unleash more fiscal stimulus, but it could also cause the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates earlier than expected, said a Morgan Stanley portfolio manager. The first rate hike by the Fed could be brought forward from around 2024-2025 to 2023-2024 — depending on how

Events and entertainment workers protest unemployment on Aug. 19 in Las Vegas. BRIDGET BENNETT/AFP via Getty Images) While it appears that the economy has sharply bounced back from the pandemic’s blow, this is actually a “steroid kind of recovery,” JPMorgan Asset Management’s David Kelly told CNBC. “We have seen what looks like a V-shaped recovery,

New filings for jobless claims in the U.S. totaled 787,000 last week, the lowest total since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting 875,000 for the week ended Oct. 17. The total reflected a decline of 55,000 from the downwardly revised 842,000 from the previous week. The

An employee stands on a social distancing marker in an elevator at an office in Dallas, Texas. Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images The number of workers receiving and applying for unemployment benefits declined significantly last week, according to Labor Department figures issued Thursday. That’s good news for workers and the U.S. economy — thousands of

Pedestrians walk past a home with a “Sold” sign in San Francisco. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Sales of existing homes rose a higher-than-expected 9.5 % in September to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.54 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were up 20.9% annually. Sales could

A worker uses a nail gun while installing trim in a home under construction at a Romanelli and Hughes Building Co. subdivision in Dublin, Ohio, July 9, 2020. Ty Wright | Bloomberg | Getty Images Homebuyer demand is incredibly strong compared with last year, but there appears to be a slight pullback this month. A

Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard issued a call Wednesday for more fiscal support from Congress, saying more stimulus is needed to address a recovery that has left out large parts of the economy. “The recovery remains highly uncertain and highly uneven — with certain sectors and groupsexperiencing substantial hardship. These disparities risk holding back the

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he attends a campaign rally at Prescott Regional Airport, in Arizona, October 19, 2020. Carlos Barria | Reuters Next week, the U.S. will get economic news like it has never seen before, reflecting growth that had seemed impossible, as it is likely that GDP will have risen by about

Contractors install shingles on the roof of a home under construction in Park City, Utah, U.S., on Friday, Aug. 14, 2020. George Frey | Bloomberg | Getty Images The nation’s homebuilders are seeing no fall chill in demand from buyers, and that has the industry more confident than ever. Builder sentiment set a record high

President Donald Trump’s announcement that no further stimulus talks will happen until after the November election will put a dent in efforts to bring the economy back from its coronavirus pandemic-induced slide, Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said Tuesday. “Certainly, you know, the recovery will continue without it, I think, but it’s going to

An ‘Open House’ sign is displayed as potential home buyers arrive at a property for sale in Columbus, Ohio. Ty Wright | Bloomberg | Getty Images Mortgage rates moved even lower last week after setting multiple record lows in recent months, spurring more borrowers to call their lenders and apply for a refinance, but homebuyers