The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 6.95% this week, Freddie Mac says, ending a four-week rate slide
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 6.95% this week, Freddie Mac says, ending a four-week rate slide.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 6.95% this week, Freddie Mac says, ending a four-week rate slide.
The June jobs report comes at a crucial moment as economists debate whether the US labor market is still normalizing to pre-pandemic levels or showing the early signs of a broader slowdown.
Two key allies of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have asked for about $6 billion in funds for their home states, pressuring the federal government to raise spending when it presents its budget later this month, according to a document reviewed by Reuters and a source familiar with the matter. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is having to rely on two regional parties - Andhra Pradesh's Telugu Desam Party and Bihar's Janata Dal (United) - to run the government, after it failed to win a majority on its own in the recently concluded national elections. In addition, both states have asked the federal government to nearly double unconditional long-term loans offered by the government to all states for infrastructure spending to 1 trillion rupees ($11.98 billion), according to the document and the source.
The Oracle of Omaha has a simple solution.
(Reuters) -Federal Reserve policymakers got more evidence of U.S. labor-market cooling on Friday that could boost their confidence they are winning their fight on inflation, and open the path to a more active debate on interest-rate cuts when they next meet in late July. The Labor Department report showing a rise in unemployment and a decline in job creation is just the latest in a string of recent data offering more evidence of slowing than what U.S. central bankers had in hand at their June meeting. Friday's job report did not show big cracks in the labor market - indeed, job gains in June, at 206,000, outpaced economists' expectations.
(Reuters) -Inflation is easing and the job market has returned to the "tight but not overheated" situation seen before the COVID-19 pandemic threw the U.S. economy into disarray, the Federal Reserve said on Friday in a report to Congress that documented the steady emergence of more normal conditions in the aftermath of the health crisis. "Inflation eased notably last year and has shown modest further progress so far this year," the Fed said in its latest Monetary Policy Report to Congress, noting that in the key area of housing services it is likely just a matter of time before the pace of price increases settles back to where it was before the health crisis. "Labor demand has eased, as job openings have declined in many sectors of the economy, and labor supply has continued to increase, supported by a strong pace of immigration."
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese household spending fell unexpectedly in May as higher prices continued to squeeze consumers' purchasing power, data showed on Friday, complicating the central bank's decision on how soon to raise interest rates. Many analysts expect consumption to rebound in the coming months as big wage hikes offered by companies and a tax break aimed at cushioning the blow from rising living costs reach households. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will highlight how pay increases are spreading, including at smaller firms, in a report due later this month, sources have told Reuters, a trend that strengthens the case for a near-term interest rate hike.
The new chancellor says she has inherited a depleted economy that will create a “challenge” for Labour.
Former President Donald Trump -- and 2024 presidential candidate -- recently floated an idea about eliminating income taxes and replacing them with tariffs. Learn More: I'm an Economist: Here's What a...
Gold prices extended gains on Friday to their highest level in a month following key U.S. jobs data that showed the labor market was softening, lifting expectations around a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September. Spot gold was up 1.1% at $2,380.91 per ounce as of 11:08 a.m. (1508 GMT). "Gold is trading at one-month highs as lower payroll revisions and yet another uptick in the unemployment rate help 'cement' a September rate cut," said Tai Wong, a New York-based independent metals trader.
Investors are looking to the June jobs report for signs of more softening in the labor market that could lay the ground for rate cuts.
House Republicans are off to a quicker, more united start this year when it comes to funding the federal government, passing four of 12 annual appropriations bills before the end of June compared to zero at this time last year when the new majority got off to a rocky start. All four bills that passed the House so far generated veto threats from President Joe Biden 's administration and drew widespread Democratic opposition and they have no chance of passing the Senate in their current form. House Republicans are intent on passing the dozen appropriations bills one at a time rather than combining them into one, massive catchall bill known as an omnibus, which they say leads to excessive spending and faulty government policies because such massive bills are harder to amend or stop without risking a government shutdown.
The Canadian labour market stalled last month, shedding 1,400 jobs.
The Labour Party’s blueprint for Britain promises tax increases of £8.3 billion and the recognition of a Palestinian state.
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany's coalition government clinched a 2025 budget deal on Friday that will stick to the country's tight borrowing rules while offering a package to rev up stuttering economic growth and finance a massive military overhaul to meet NATO targets. The deal was reached after months of negotiations in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's fractious three-way coalition, whose popularity has sagged during a cost of living crisis. It offers some respite for Scholz, who pitched the agreement as a way to tide Germans through "turbulent and difficult times" and an explicit riposte to far-right forces surging in Germany, neighbouring France and other European countries.
The latest employment data is expected to show that the U.S. job market is returning to normal, with fewer positions added last month—a positive message for anyone rooting for cuts to interest rates. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is slated to release the June jobs report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern on Friday. The consensus call among economists surveyed by FactSet is that employers added 189,500 jobs in June—a healthy pace, but a slowdown from the 272,000 positions the bureau reported companies added in May. Yet some are expecting a much softer report.
The June jobs report showed unemployment approaching a three-year high and raised the pressure on the Fed to act on rate cuts in September.
Nonfarm payrolls rose above expectations for the month of June, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting 206,000 new jobs added to the economy against economist estimates of 190,000. The US unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1%, while many experts were originally forecasting it to hold at 4.0%. The Morning Brief's Brad Smith and Brian Sozzi break down the latest jobs print. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Morning Brief. This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.
U.S. stocks rose to more records Friday after a highly anticipated report on the job market bolstered Wall Street’s hopes that interest rates may soon get easier. The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% to set an all-time high for a third straight day following Thursday’s pause in trading for the Fourth of July holiday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 67 points, or 0.2%, while the Nasdaq composite added 0.9% to its own record.
All three of the major US indexes (^DJI, ^IXIC, ^GSPC) closed out the shortened trading week with across-the-board gains, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both set new record highs. State Street Global Markets macro multi-asset strategist Cayla Seder joins Market Domination Overtime to discuss the state of the market as June's jobs report marked the latest sign of economic cooling. "We have this kind of moderation that's going on... but the actual level is still quite strong. And so I think what that means is as we're assessing this data, we have to put some of this moderation into context. And so, yes, you have a headline figure in the NFP [nonfarm payroll] print today that was still above pre-COVID norms. But then you do see some signs of weakness underneath," Seder tells Yahoo Finance "However, if we take a step back, wage growth is still quite strong. JOLTS [Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey] data implies that there are more job openings... than there are folks unemployed," Seder explains. When analyzed from that perspective, she believes that while an interest rate cut is in play for September from the Federal Reserve, "thus far, it looks like the economy is still perhaps too strong to expect a cut in the near term." She notes that "the market does have this habit of getting ahead of itself," when economic data is released: "I would caution folks from getting too excited about some signs of moderation and interpreting it as weakness and expecting too many cuts. Unless we're really going to start pricing in a recession, which thus far looks unlikely, it's going to be hard for the Fed to really deliver this large magnitude of cuts. And so it's much more likely, I think, that we're going to see a shorter and relatively shallow cutting cycle." For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination Overtime. This post was written by Melanie Riehl
Nonfarm payrolls rose above expectations in June, with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting 206,000 new jobs compared to the expected 190,000. However, the US unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1%, higher than the estimated 4.0%. RSM chief economist Joe Brusuelas joins Morning Brief to discuss the print and what it means for the overall health of the economy. "This is what full employment looks like. This is what you want to see. This is a very good number," Brusuelas says. He explains that the print is good news for the Federal Reserve, as the economy is responding to higher interest rates and cooling down: "A policy rate in a range between 5.25% and 5.5% is no longer appropriate for an economy that has an inflation rate of 2.6% — taken out to three decimals is 2.563%. Moreover, growth is cooling, hiring is cooling, the economy is normalizing. We're moving back to that pre-pandemic trend." Brusuelas adds, "I'm more comfortable with the Fed actually hinting in July that they were going to go in September. If I'm a Fed member, I'm actually thinking about July. They want to get out in front of what's going to be a decelerating job market." He anticipates inflation to hit 2.3% by the end of the year, stating "we're within shouting distance" of the Fed's target of 2%. While many have their sights set on September for the first rate cut, he says, "I'm comfortable even with them considering July at this point, because I do think the economy is just normalizing. I want to be clear here, guys: This isn't a crack in the job market. It's not the economy's foundations cracking. We're moving back to trend." For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Morning Brief. This post was written by Melanie Riehl