Economy

Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images Sales of newly built homes soared across the nation in July, as pent-up demand from the shutdown spring market, urban flight and a new desire for more work-at-home space fueled the growth. As measured by signed contracts, new home sales jumped 13.9% compared with June and were a

People line up outside a Kentucky Career Center hoping to find assistance with their unemployment claim in Frankfort, Kentucky, June 18, 2020. Bryan Woolston | Reuters There’s a one-in-four chance the economy could fall into a double-dip recession, according to a majority of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics. Two-thirds of NABE

The Federal Open Market Committee expressed concern at their last meeting over the future of the economy, saying that the coronavirus likely would continue to stunt growth and potentially pose dangers to the financial system. At the July 28-29 session, the Federal Reserve’s policymaking arm voted to keep short-term interest rates anchored near zero, citing

A for sale sign is seen next to a house in Arlington, Virginia on May 6, 2020. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images Sales of existing homes soared 24.7% in July compared with June, according to the National Association of Realtors. These numbers represent closed sales, meaning contracts signed in May and June.  That

For more than 30 years, Parker McAllister’s parents have held onto the Brooklyn, New York, brownstone they purchased in 1985 for about $91,000.  After raising two kids in the home, McAllister’s parents now have three tenants living in their Bedford-Stuyvesant multi-family property so they can keep up with mortgage payments.  To relieve his parents of

The number of people filing for unemployment benefits last week was greater than expected, raising concern about the state of the economy as lawmakers struggle to move forward on a new coronavirus stimulus package. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 15 came in at 1.106 million. Economists polled by Dow

Small-business devastation during the coronavirus crisis presents risks to capitalism in the United States, Mohamed El-Erian told CNBC on Thursday.  “If you want capitalism to be sustained, you need buy-in from a lot of people. You cannot get buy-in if it’s all about large corporations,” the chief economic advisor at Allianz said on “Squawk Box.”  “Remember

Keith Cunningham from South Carolina shops for Walt Disney apparel at the Bargain World gift shop located near Walt Disney World where its conducting a phased reopening from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, July 11, 2020. Octavio Jones | Reuters Retail sales rose to a record level in July, recovering what

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 U.S. central bank will be faced with a delicate balancing act if it opts to embrace a more relaxed view on inflation, according to a former governor of the Federal

U.S. homebuilding picked up for a third straight month in July in the latest sign the housing sector is emerging as one of the few areas of strength in an economy suffering a record slowdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Housing starts increased by 22.6% — far more than expected — to a seasonally adjusted annual rate

Shoppers are seen wearing masks while shopping at a Walmart store in Bradford, Pennsylvania, July 20, 2020. Brendan McDermid | Reuters Walmart‘s fiscal second-quarter sales got a boost from this spring’s stimulus checks, but that tapered off in July as shoppers spent that money. Now, the retail giant is waiting to see if the government

Shoppers wearing protective masks browse clothing at a store at Westfield San Francisco Centre in San Francisco, California, U.S. Michael Short | Bloomberg | Getty Images Near-record stock market levels, a booming almost bubbling housing market and robust retail spending doesn’t sound like much of a recession. But this is no ordinary recession. The Covid-19

Potential buyers continue to flood into model homes across the nation, and that has builders feeling better about their business than they have in over 20 years. But rising lumber prices could sap the market’s momentum this fall. Builder confidence in the newly built, single-family home market jumped six points to 78 in August on

A for sale sign is seen near a house for sale in South Pasadena, California on April 24, 2020. Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images Record low mortgage rates are clearly not as impressive as they used to be. Even with another new low set last week, mortgage application volume decreased 5.1% from

Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester poses during an interview on the sidelines of the American Economic Association’s annual meeting in San Diego, California, January 3, 2020. Ann Saphir | Reuters Cleveland Federal President Loretta Mester called Wednesday for more help from Congress and said the central bank stands at the ready to provide

As the White House has continued to push a narrative of a sharp recovery after a history-making recession, the economic data in large part has not been cooperating. Jobs numbers of late are showing progress but pointing to at best a gradual recovery. The sharp uptick in coronavirus cases appears to be have ebbed but

Two months of record-setting payroll growth slowed in July but was still better than Wall Street estimates even as a rise in coronavirus cases put a damper on the struggling U.S. economy. Nonfarm payrolls increased 1.763 million for the month, the Labor Department reported Friday. The unemployment rate fell to 10.2% from its previous 11.1%,

Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, in an interview on February 17, 2016. David Orrell | CNBC  The U.S. economy needs an even more stringent shutdown than the last time if it’s going to defeat the coronavirus, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said. In a Friday New York Times op-ed he authored with Michael