Tag Archives: Jobs

The Federal Open Market Committee announced Thursday a new plan to stimulate a moribund economy, continuing two earlier plans which at best stopped the economy from contracting. The FOMC said it would keep the federal funds rate near zero into mid-2015, six months longer than it had said previously. The FOMC voted 11-1 ""to increase policy accommodation by purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month.""

According to CoreLogic's most recent MarketPulse release, the strongest real estate markets in the country right now have one thing in common: Black gold. The company released its September issue of MarketPulse Thursday, revealing interesting findings from its Real Estate Strength Index (RESi). Based on an analysis of RESi state rankings, advances in oil and gas extraction seem to have provided a substantial boost to states with an abundance of the natural resources.

Mortgage rates saw little change this week as investors await news from the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) about a possible third round of quantitative easing. According to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.55 percent (0.6 point) for the week ending September 13, no different from the week before and only slightly above its all-time low achieved earlier in the summer.

First-time claims for unemployment jumped 15,000 to 382,000 for the week ended September 8, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Several states reported increases in initial claims, as a result of Tropical Storm Isaac, which increased the total by about 9,000.

Though the Great Recession officially ended three years ago, low aggregate income is keeping Americans from climbing out of the income slump that resulted. While real average earnings (per person) trended downward or stayed flat during the previous four business cycles, Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research group found that average earnings actually increased from pre-recession levels during the Great Recession.

The nation's unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent in August - the lowest level since April but the economy added just 96,000 jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday. According to BLS, 581,000 people left the labor force in August leading to the drop in the unemployment rate which nonetheless remained above the election-critical 8.0 percent. At the same time, July's job gains - originally reported at 163,000 - were reduced to 141,000 while June's job numbers dropped to 45,000 from 87,000.

First time claims for unemployment were unchanged at 374,000 for the week ended August 25, the Labor Department reported Thursday after revising upward by 2,000 the prior week's originally reported 372,000 claims. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 370,000 initial claims.

Slow job creation and tight loan availability are hindering otherwise positive growth in commercial real estate, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported. While ""positive underlying fundamentals"" helped boost all of the major commercial real estate sectors, growth in some areas has been tempered by various issues, including job growth and shifts in demand.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance increased 4,000 for the week ended Aug. 18 to 372,000, the highest level in a month, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 365,000 initial claims. The prior week's total was revised up to 368,000 from the originally reported 366,000.

Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group issued its latest economic outlook, maintaining its expectations for modest growth in 2012. This news comes in spite of reports of strengthening retail sales and job growth in July. The group pointed to dismal news throughout the first half of the year as reasoning for its unchanging outlook. However, even with slowing job growth, global and domestic economic uncertainty, and a decline in consumer spending, things are not anticipated to get worse.