Economy

In this Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, photo,a home is for sale in Oklahoma City. Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell again to new record lows. The decline suggests the Federal Reserve’s stimulus efforts may be having an impact on mortgage rates. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012, the rate on the

Warren Buffett Gerry Miller | CNBC Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, urged Congress to extend aid to small businesses as they continue to struggle through the coronavirus pandemic. “It’s an economic war,” Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick on “Squawk Box,” speaking alongside Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon about helping small

LONDON — Saxo Bank says universal basic income could become a permanent reality next year, triggering a “seismic rebalancing” of society as workers wave “bye-bye” to big city life. In a report entitled “Outrageous Predictions,” the Danish bank on Tuesday outlined 10 “outlandish forecasts” for 2021, although it did stress these are not its “official”

We still haven’t seen “the storm before the calm.” So says Alejandra Grindal, senior international economist at Ned Davis Research, despite the market’s run to record highs, reignited Tuesday by positive announcements around a Covid-19 vaccine. The U.K. began rolling out Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine to its citizens Tuesday, just as the U.S. Food and

People line up to receive free holiday boxes of food from the Food Bank For New York City ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, as the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, U.S., November 16, 2020. Brendan McDermid | Reuters The surprise jump in new jobless claims

Shoppers hold hands at the Willow Grove Park Mall in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, November 14, 2020. Mark Makela | Reuters Almost 40% of Americans plan to spend less on gifts this holiday season than they did last year, the largest such percentage since 2013, according to the CNBC All-America Economic Survey. Just 11% plan to

American homeowners are $1 trillion richer as the pandemic-driven housing boom pads their pockets. As prices rise, home equity multiplies. In the past year, homeowners with mortgages, representing about 63% of all properties, have seen their equity increase by 10.8%, according to CoreLogic. That equates to a collective $1 trillion in gained equity, or an

The pace of weekly jobless claims jumped last week after filings caught up with a decline due in part to the Thanksgiving holiday. First-time claims for unemployment insurance totaled 853,000, an increase from the upwardly revised 716,000 total a week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting 730,000.

Teresa Nguyen, a respiratory therapist, goes over a patient’s charts inside a room for people with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a hospital in Hutchinson, Kansas, November 20, 2020. Callaghan O’Hare | Reuters The U.S. economy will recover faster than expected in part because the sectors most susceptible to the most recent coronavirus spread aren’t

A for sale sign is posted in front of a home as interest rates for home loans climbed to nearly 4% in the wake of the election of Donald Trump to be the U.S. president on November 17, 2016 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images Mortgage rates fell again, falling to a record

Charles Scharf Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said Tuesday that the U.S. economy will probably rebound quickly from the coronavirus next year after vaccines are widely distributed. As head of the fourth-biggest U.S. bank by assets, Scharf has a unique view into the saving and spending activity of

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin listens to a question during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on “Oversight of the Treasury Department’s and Federal Reserve’s Pandemic Response” in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, December 2, 2020. Greg Nash | Pool | Reuters The decision by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin not to extend the funding

Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said he wouldn’t be in favor of changing the central bank’s bond-purchasing program even though he sees some rocky times ahead for the U.S. economy. Speaking Wednesday to CNBC, Kaplan said financial conditions are such that the Fed probably doesn’t need to do more than its current pace of

Job gains in November are expected to be weaker than in October, reflecting the impact of virus-related shutdowns by states and local governments due to the record spread of Covid-19. Economists expect a consensus of 440,000 nonfarm payrolls were added in November, and the unemployment rate fell to 6.7% from 6.9%, according to Dow Jones.

SDI Productions | E+ | Getty Images A slew of recent studies underscore the difficulties many workers of color, including Hispanics, are facing as a result of Covid. The Latinx community finds itself over-represented in industries such as hospitality and construction, which suffered mightily at the hands of the pandemic. But there are also bright spots: Hispanic unemployment began

John Williams, left, and his dad Terry, right, both of Salem, carry a large Christmas Tree out of the field together at Tucker Tree Farm in Salem, Oregon, November 29, 2020. Alisha Jucevic | Reuters Tree retailers are having a spirited season this year, as Americans staying closer to home due to the coronavirus pandemic

Nonfarm payrolls increased by just 245,000 in November, well below Wall Street estimates as rising coronavirus cases coincided with a considerable slowdown in hiring. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 440,000 and the jobless rate to decrease to 6.7% from 6.9% in October. The unemployment rate met expectations, though it fell along

Food Bank for New York City distributes turkeys and Thanksgiving fixings with support from Stop & Shop and WBLS’ The Steve Harvey Morning Show on November 16, 2020 in New York City. Michael Loccisano | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images Job growth slowed significantly in November and looks set to decline even more, as