Mortgage rates are climbing back toward 7 percent on fears that tariffs could reignite inflation, but Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warns policymakers would be challenged if unemployment also rises. Continue reading
Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index dropped to an annual rate of 2.4 percent last month, but the impact of tariffs is unlikely to show up in data until May. Continue reading
Stocks rebounded and pressure on interest rates eased after Trump announces 90-day pause on country-specific “reciprocal tariffs” with the exception of 125 percent duties on Chinese goods. Continue reading
Heightened fears of a trade war and recession have investors convinced that the Fed will start cutting rates again in June — a sentiment that gives mortgage rates more room to come down. Continue reading
Sweeping plan imposes higher duties on “worst offenders” and is in addition to 25 percent tariff on foreign automobiles slated to take effect April 3. Continue reading
Central bank dials back Treasury rolloffs but is not ready to cut short-term interest rates, as Fed policymakers indicate they’re more worried about inflation than they were in December. Continue reading
Republicans are less worried about the future than Democrats and Independents, but “consumers from all three political affiliations are in agreement that the outlook has weakened since February.” Continue reading
Mortgage rates eased Friday as investors took stock of new data showing employers added 151,000 workers to their payrolls in February and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.1 percent. Continue reading
Requests to refinance surged 37 percent last week and were up 83 percent from a year ago after the biggest one-week decline in mortgage rates since November, the MBA’s latest weekly lender survey shows. Continue reading
After moving in the wrong direction for three months, annual inflation cooled to 2.5 percent in January. But the biggest drop in consumer spending since February 2021 has one model predicting that the economy is shrinking. Continue reading