Financial related news.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A spike in gas prices pushed up inflation in August, yet most other costs rose at a more modest pace, evidence that price increases overall are still cooling. In a set of conflicting data released earlier this week, the Labor Department said the consumer price index rose 3.7 percent in August from [...]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Home loan applications are the lowest in decades as evidence mounts that rising mortgage rates and home prices are shutting out many aspiring homeowners. An index that tracks mortgage application volume shows applications for loans to buy a home fell to the lowest level in 28 years, according to the Mortgage [...]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average long-term mortgage rate has slipped after climbing for five consecutive weeks to a more than 20-year high, a modest relief for would-be homebuyers challenged by rising home prices and a thin inventory of homes on the market. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac last week said that the average rate on [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge closely tracked by the Federal Reserve remained low last month, adding to signs of cooling price increases and raising the likelihood that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged when it next meets in late September. Last week's report from the Commerce Department showed that prices rose just 0.2 [...]
NEW YORK — Fund investors are keeping more of what's theirs. Fees for mutual funds and exchange-traded funds fell to a record low last year, according to Morningstar. Fund investors paid about $37 in fees for every $10,000 invested, down from $40 in 2021. Altogether, that saved them a collective $9.8 billion. While that doesn't [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s economy expanded at a 2.1-percent annual pace from April through June, the government said earlier this week in a downgrade from its initial estimate. The government had previously estimated that the economy expanded at a 2.4-percent annual rate last quarter. The Commerce Department's second estimate of growth last quarter marked [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — The Biden administration has proposed a new rule that would make 3.6 million more workers eligible for overtime pay, reviving an Obama-era policy effort that was ultimately scuttled in court. The new rule would require employers to pay overtime to so-called white-collar workers who make less than $55,000 a year. That's [...]
SHANGHAI — Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said this week she warned Chinese leaders that U.S. businesses might stop investing in their country without prompt action to address complaints about worsening conditions due to raids on firms, unexplained fines and unpredictable official behavior. Raimondo's comments add to pressure on Chinese leader Xi Jinping's government, which is [...]
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — Rising trade barriers. Aging populations. A broad transition from carbon-spewing fossil fuels to renewable energy. The prevalence of such trends across the world could intensify global inflation pressures in the coming years and make it harder for the Federal Reserve and other central banks to meet their inflation targets. That concern [...]
WASHINGTON — A year ago, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered a stark warning: To fight persistently high inflation, the Fed would continue to sharply raise interest rates, bringing "some pain" in the form of job losses and weaker economic growth. Since Powell spoke at last summer's annual conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole, [...]