Economy

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

A woman wearing a face mask walks past a sign in front of the US Department of Labor amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 29, 2020, in Washington, DC. Oliver Douliery | AFP | Getty Images Markets see a slight positive in July’s  jobs report, but the focus remains on whether Congress can agree to

The U.S. economy added a greater number of jobs than expected during July as food service workers returned in droves and helped the broader leisure and hospitality sector add more than half a million positions. The Labor Department reported Friday that payrolls increased by 1.763 million in July, above the 1.48 million estimate that economists polled

A woman counts U.S. dollar bills. Marcos Brindicci | Reuters With the Federal Reserve and Congress pushing stimulus efforts to new heights, some investors are keeping a close eye on a surge in the U.S. money supply for signs of inflation’s long-awaited return. With a litany of metrics showing rapid growth in the value of

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said he expects the economy to continue to recover through the year and likely return to its pre-pandemic level by the end of the 2021. In an interview with Steve Liesman on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” the central bank’s director of bank supervision said he hasn’t changed his forecast despite

The move to get displaced workers back to their jobs slowed sharply in July, with private payrolls increasing by just 167,000, ADP reported Wednesday. That total was well below the 1 million expected from economists surveyed by Dow Jones and represented a tumble from the 4.314 million created in June, according to the report, which

The first read on home prices in June is proving just how resilient the housing market has been in the face of an ongoing economic disaster. Strong demand for housing, much of it pushed by the coronavirus pandemic itself, is driving prices higher faster, but forecasters say that may not last. Nationally, home prices increased

An aerial view of a construction worker roofing an apartment home on May 27, 2020 in Uniondale, New York. Al Bello | Getty Images Record-breaking job creation in May and June appear to be giving way to a more subdued pace, with a possibility that some of those gains even will be reversed. Current consensus

The economy faces a bumpy ride as it tries to heal from the shock of the coronavirus recession, according to Michelle Meyer, head of U.S. economics at Bank of America. In a CNBC interview, Meyer said the U.S. economy has entered the third stage of the coronavirus pandemic called the “healing phase,” after the lockdown

Reading Police Officer Bucklin helps to hand out boxes of MREs. At City Light Ministries on Spruce Street in Reading Saturday afternoon May 2, 2020 where a large group came out for the food distribution by One Luv during the coronavirus / COVID-19 outbreak. Ben Hasty | MediaNews Group | Reading Eagle via Getty Images

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady in a decision announced Wednesday that came along with a tepid outlook on the coronavirus-plagued economy. In a decision widely expected, the central bank kept its benchmark overnight lending rate anchored near zero, where it has been since March 15 in the early days of the pandemic. Along

The number of Americans who filed for unemployment benefits last week totaled 1.434 million, the Labor Department reported Thursday, roughly in line with expectations, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the U.S. economy.  It was the 19th straight week in which initial claims totaled at least 1 million and the second consecutive week in which