Much-needed small business aid is beginning to trickle out and more is expected in the weeks to come as banks start to disburse the rescue funds to Main Street. But the first-come, first-serve Payroll Protection Program of $349 billion in aid may be nearing a ceiling for loan commitments, with more than 1.3 million loans […]
Economy
Worries that money won’t go where it’s needed
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell holds a press conference following a two day Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting in Washington, January 30, 2019. Leah Millis | Reuters It wasn’t supposed to work like this: The Federal Reserve was not going to have to come back and rescue the economy the way it did during […]
US housing starts March 2020
U.S. home-building activity collapsed in March as the coronavirus spread, with housing starts tumbling 22.3% from a month ago. The Commerce Department said Thursday that groundbreakings occurred last month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.2 million units, down from a 1.56 million pace in February. Construction of single-family houses fell 17.5%, while apartment […]
Bail out everyone, ‘worry about paying the bills later’
Billionaire businessman Barry Diller told CNBC on Thursday the United States government should bail out all companies that have been hit hard by the coronavirus, including those in the travel industry. “The damage that is being done every day is enormous,” Diller said on “Squawk Box.” “Everybody needs to be bailed out for this one time […]
US economy has erased nearly all job gains since Great Recession
A man speaks with a library worker after receiving an unemployment form, as the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Hialeah, Florida, April 8, 2020. Marco Bello | Reuters It took only four weeks for the U.S. economy to wipe out nearly all the job gains in the last 11 years. The coronavirus and […]
Jobless claims hit 5.245 million; monthly loss now 22M due to coronavirus
Protection measures against the coronavirus continued to tear through the employment ranks, with 5.245 million more Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That brings the crisis total to just over 22 million, nearly wiping out all the job gains since the Great Recession. The total was a […]
New York taps McKinsey to develop a ‘Trump-proof’ economic reopening plan
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has hired high-powered consultants to develop a science-based plan for the safe economic reopening of the region that can thwart expected pressure from President Donald Trump to move more rapidly, state government sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Cuomo, along with many other U.S. governors, shut his state economy to limit […]
Economy won’t be back to ‘full strength’ by January
New York Federal Reserve President John Williams told CNBC on Friday he sees some parts of the economy coming back online but doubts growth will return to normal this year. Construction should be among the first to return, he said in a “Squawk Box” interview with Steve Liesman. That echoed comments from Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, […]
Weekly mortgage demand stalls, even with interest rates at a record low
A real estate agent shows a home to a prospective buyer in Miami. Getty Images Mortgage volume appears to be settling into a new normal, as refinance demand stays high and purchase demand sits at a five-year low. Total mortgage application volume decreased 0.3% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers […]
US auto sales recovering amid pandemic but still significantly down
A salesman talks to a person in a vehicle at a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) car dealership in Moline, Illinois. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images Big discounts, low financing rates and states loosening restrictions on auto dealerships are assisting in a sales rebound heading into the end of April, according to J.D. Power. […]