Asking prices rose dramatically in January as renting prices cooled off somewhat, according to the latest data in Trulia's Price and Rent monitors. The company's Price Monitor showed a 0.3 percent quarter-over-quarter rise in January (without seasonal adjustment). On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices increased 2.2 percent quarterly. While January's numbers signal a strong price recovery, Trulia's chief economist warned the month's gains could disappear in some areas.
Read More »Consumer Confidence Falls as Middle Class Reports Difficulties
A new poll from the Consumer Reports National Research Center (CRNRC) shows consumer confidence is off to a sluggish start in 2013.
Read More »Equifax: Rising Employment Leads to Decline in Subprime Credit
Subprime credit scores are declining across the country with strong declines in a few rebounding markets, according to Atlanta-based Equifax, a leading credit reporting agency. Designating credit scores below 620 as "subprime," Equifax found the number of subprime borrowers decreased 2.1 percent from the third quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of 2012. The 2.1 percent translates to about 1 million Americans who rose from the subprime category.
Read More »Consumer Sentiment Improves in January
Consumer confidence picked up somewhat in January, but the recent payroll tax hike put a ceiling on any major gains.
Read More »Unemployment Rate Up to 7.9% in January, Economy Adds 157K Jobs
If businesses had any reluctance to hire in December because of fiscal cliff concerns, they didn't make up for it in January: Payrolls expanded by 157,000, down from December, but the unemployment rate moved to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent a month earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday.
Read More »Personal Income Jumps With Fiscal Cliff Dividends
Personal income jumped a staggering 2.6 percent in December, almost four times the 0.7 increase economists forecast, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday. Part of the December increase, BEA said, was due to "accelerated bonus payments and other irregular pay in private wages in anticipation of changes in individual income tax rates." Personal consumption spending rose 0.2 percent, slightly below the expected 0.3 percent increase. The increase in personal spending--$22.6 billion --came primarily in spending on services.
Read More »Volatile First-Time Jobless Claims Jump Back Up
First-time claims for unemployment insurance jumped 38,000 to 368,000 for the week ending January 26, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected a smaller increase to 350,000 from the prior week's 330,000 initial claims. The weekly jump in initial claims was the first in three weeks. It reflected, in part, a drop in the seasonal adjustment factor the Labor Department applies to the raw data, which includes holiday workers whose jobs were eliminated.
Read More »December Unemployment Rates Down in Most Metro Areas
Lincoln, Nebraska recorded a best-in-the-nation 3.4 percent unemployment rate in December as unemployment rates dropped in 290 of the 372 metropolitan areas in the county, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Wednesday.
Read More »Conference Board: Consumer Confidence Crashes in January
Consumer confidence took another dive in January as Americans saw their paychecks shrink, The Conference Board reported Tuesday. The research firm's Consumer Confidence Index--based on a survey conducted by Nielsen--fell to 58.6 in January, down from 66.7 at the end of 2012. Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, said the drop stems from consumers' "paycheck shock" after seeing how the payroll tax increase has affected their bank accounts.
Read More »Fannie Mae: Slow Pace of Recovery ‘The New Normal’
While some analysts have been speculating over when the economy will return to its "normal" state, Fannie Mae says slow growth is the "new normal."
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