The index tracks consumer cash flow through a handful of measures—tax burden, initial unemployment claims, real wages, and new home prices—as an indicator of future consumer spending. Out of those four gauges, only one improved: Real hourly wages were up 0.5 percent from August to $8.86 in September, Deloitte reported.
Read More »Fed’s Labor Market Index Shows Signs of Recovery In September
As a broad measure of the market, the Fed's index includes a number of indicators that go beyond just the national unemployment rate, including average hourly earnings, hiring rates, and labor force participation, among others.
Read More »Fannie Mae: Employment Report Supports Forecast of ‘Solid Economic Growth’
Fannie Mae's chief economist, Doug Duncan, weighed in on today's employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, saying the GSE maintains its "forecast of solid economic growth" in response to the data released.
Read More »Unemployment Rate Falls Below 6 Percent For First Time Since ’08
According to the latest monthly figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation added 248,000 jobs in September, bringing employment growth back above 200,000 after an unexpected drop in August.
Read More »Housing, Economy Stuck in Catch 22
Delinquency and foreclosure rates also were much improved. According to Trulia and Black Knight, the national delinquency and foreclosure rate was 74 percent back to normal in August—the same as one quarter ago and up from 56 percent one year ago. Trulia's chief economist, Jed Kolko, said that with the share of mortgage borrowers with negative or near-negative equity dropping, the default rate should continue to drop.
Read More »Consumer Confidence Slips in September
Declines were recorded in both component indices: The group's gauge of current economic conditions fell to 89.4 from 93.9, while the index measuring consumers' outlook fell to 83.7 from 93.1.
Read More »Freddie Mac: Housing Market Regresses in July
The index, which debuted over the summer, measures the stability of state and local trends as well as the national market in terms of home purchase applications, payment-to-income ratios, proportion of on-time mortgage payments, and employment strength. Those figures are set against each market's long-term stable range, with index values between 80 and 120 reflecting stability.
Read More »DS News Webcast: Monday 9/22/2014
The U.S. House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation recently that allows small businesses to spend capital toward creating jobs instead of compliance. H.R. 4, known as the Jobs for America Act, contains two Financial Services Committee bills designed to provide regulatory ...
Read More »Industry Job Cuts Continue in Q2
Despite growth in mortgage revenues at banks nationwide, industry employment continued to move down in the second quarter as banks cut staff, according to a report from Mortgage Daily. All of the reported cuts in the second quarter happened at banks, which lost approximately 28,600 jobs from the first quarter to the second.
Read More »Employment Growth Falls Well Short of Expectations for August
Employment growth in the United States took a sharp downturn in August, according to government figures released Friday. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an increase 142,000 in U.S. payrolls last month, well short of the 230,000 predicted by economists. August's sudden slowdown snaps a six-month streak in which payroll growth came in at 200,000 or higher.
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