News

Mortgage rates decline in first full week of March, says Freddie Mac

Thursday, 11 March 2010 23:42

Mortgage rates fell as March got underway, according to Freddie Mac Homeowners looking to save some money or consolidate debt received another week of favorable rates from the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey released by Freddie Mac on Thursday.

According to the survey 30-year fixed-rate mortgage saw their average interest rate drop 0.02 percentage points to 4.95 percent for the week ending March 11. While a decline, it failed to match the 0.08 percentage point decline one week earlier that dropped it below 5 percent.

The average interest rate for 15-year FRMs declined for the week as well, shedding 0.01 percentage points to 4.32 percent. The average rate had also enjoyed a larger 0.07 percentage point decline the week prior.

"During a light week of mixed economic reports, mortgage rates eased somewhat," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's vice president and chief economist. "Pending existing home sales fell 7.6 percent in January, well below the market consensus of a 1 percent gain. Meanwhile, the economy lost only 36,000 jobs in February, fewer than market forecasts, and the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent."

The average interest rate for 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages were the only mortgage type to outdo its previous week, shedding 0.06 percentage points to hit 4.05 percent and outpace the 0.05 percentage point decline the week prior.
 

Foreclosure figures remain mixed in February, says RealtyTrac

Thursday, 11 March 2010 23:40

Foreclosure figures were alternately good and and bad in February Improved debt consolidation and money management to avoid falling into foreclosure on one's home seems to be paying off slightly, as short term foreclosure figures improved in February while longer-term ones continued to struggle.

According to RealtyTrac, the number of foreclosure filings -which include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions - hit 308,524 for February.

While the figure represented a 2 percent decline from January's figures, it also was 6 percent higher than the one taken in February 2009.

"The 6 percent year-over-year increase we saw in February was the smallest annual increase we’ve seen since January 2006, when we began calculating year-over-year increases, but it still marked the 50th consecutive month of year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity," said James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac. "This leveling of the foreclosure trend is not necessarily evidence that fewer homeowners are in distress and at risk for foreclosure, but rather that foreclosure prevention programs, legislation and other processing delays are in effect capping monthly foreclosure activity."

The survey also found that the six states with the highest foreclosure rates accounted for more than 60 percent of the national rate. For the 30th straight month - and despite a 7 percent decline for the month - Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate yet again with one in every 163 housing units receiving a filling.
 

Unemployment rate remains stable in February, says BLS

Thursday, 11 March 2010 23:39

The unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent in February Workers holding out for a new job as they continued to consolidate debt saw the unemployment rate remain unchanged into February, according to the latest Employment Situation report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

According to the survey, total nonfarm payroll employment remained mostly stable, only decreasing by 36,000 to keep the number of unemployed persons at 14.9 million and the unemployment rate at 9.7 percent for the second straight month.

Since the beginning of the recession in December 2007, payroll employment has dropped by 8.4 million.

Employment in the construction (-64,000) and information (-18,000) industries saw the notable declines for the month. However, they were offset somewhat by gains in the temporary help service industry, which added 48,000 jobs.


The number of Americans working part-time for economic reasons also increased by 500,000 during the month to hit 8.8 million.

The BLS noted that winter weather in parts of the country could have thrown off some payroll employment and hours data that was collected, due to the fact that newly unemployed workers staying home because of bad weather may not have been counted. However,it added that the effect of the storms on the data was not yet known.
   

Job market slowly recovering in second quarter of 2010, says Manpower

Tuesday, 09 March 2010 22:40

The job market is slowly recovering, according to Manpower People looking for work as they consolidate debt and save money to remain above water financially will likely be pleased by new data from Manpower Inc. demonstrating a slight increase in payroll that are expected during the second quarter of 2010.

Manpower's Employment Outlook Survey for Q2 2010 released on Tuesday found that 16 percent of the 18,000 employers surveyed across the country expected to increase their staff levels during the quarter while only 8 percent expect a decrease. The results netted a positive employment outlook of 8 percent, which was lowered to 5 percent when seasonally adjusted.

Additionally, 73 percent of employers said they were planning on keeping their staffing levels stable through the second quarter, a record high figure for the survey.

"U.S. hiring activity is still in neutral, but revving toward first gear," said Jonas Prising, Manpower's president of the Americas. "It's moving in the right direction, but it will take some time, with no major speed bumps, before it can accelerate."

Of the 13 employment sectors looked at by Manpower for the survey, 12 of them reported positive outlooks, with the leisure and hospitality industry expecting the most significant gains (17 percent) in payroll for the quarter. Government employers were the only sector to anticipate a slight decline of 1 percent to their payrolls.
 

Initial unemployment claims decline yet again, says DOL

Friday, 05 March 2010 22:22

Unemployment claims decline again, according to the latest U.S. Department of Labor report Initial unemployment claims continued to decline as February came to a close, providing hope to jobless workers in the midst of debt consolidation who are looking for a sign the struggling housing market may slowly be righting itself.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor's latest Employment Insurance Weekly Claims Report released on Thursday, initial unemployment claims stood at 469,000 for the week ending February 27, 29,000 fewer than there were one week earlier. The 4-week moving average of initial claims also dipped slightly to 470,750, a decline of 3,500.

Using the most recent data available, the survey also found that the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate stood at 3.5 percent for the week ending February 20, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate.

Because of that, the survey also found that the number of jobless workers receiving unemployment during same the week stood at 4.5 million, a decrease of 134,000 from the previous week's revised figure.

Additionally, the survey found that during the week ending February 20, only seven states saw an increase in their initial claims, with New Jersey leading the way with 4,879 new claims that were attributed to a backlog caused by weather-related office closings and a statewide furlough day.

Conversely, 12 states saw a decrease in claims of more than 1,000, with California leading the way with 12,000 fewer declines due to decreases layoffs in the service industry.
   

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