The International Energy Agency (IEA) is urging its 31 member countries to implement “emergency measures” to reduce oil demand in the wake of a global oil shortage being worsened by the war in Ukraine. The measures include reducing speed limits on roads—driving slower increases gas mileage—and foregoing air travel when possible. Cutting road speeds by...
Author: user (UserName LastName)
Post
BANK OF ENGLAND RAISES INTEREST RATE FOR THIRD TIME
The Bank of England (BoE) raised its key interest rate to the pre-COVID level of 0.75 percent on 17 March, its third rate boost in as many policy meetings and the day after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its base rate for the first time in almost four years. The rate had been at 0.1...
Post
PACE OF INFLATION RAVAGES BRITAIN’S ECONOMY
Inflation in the U.K. in January galloped at 5.5 percent, year over year, its fastest since 1992, driven by record high fuel prices and a shortage of goods that collided with a surge in consumer demand as the nation emerged from its Omicron lockdown. At the same time, average wages shrank 1 percent over the...
Post
EUROPE’S INFLATION RATE SETS RECORD IN FEBRUARY
Consumer prices across the 27-member European Union swelled at an annual rate of 5.9 percent in February, the highest rate since the European Union was formed in 1999, the Eurostat official statistics agency reported. The continent’s inflation pace was 5.1 percent the month before. Prices rose 14 percent in Lithuania, 11.6 percent in Estonia, and...
Post
UKRAINE WAR WILL CUT GLOBAL ECONOMIC GROWTH
Russia’s attack on Ukraine and resulting sanctions on Russia’s exports will inflate food and energy prices, disrupt global supply lines, weaken confidence, and weigh on the world’s economic expansion this year, the 37-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in a 17 March statement. Late last year, the group foresaw the world’s economy...
Post
WILL AIRLINES TICKET SALES KEEP SOARING?
Travelers are flocking to the skies, U.S. airlines say, and in such high numbers that the carriers can cover the soaring cost of fuel, The Wall Street Journal reported. As the Omicron variant ebbed, ticket sales shot up more than the carriers had expected, airline executives told the WSJ. In February, bookings and revenue exceeded...
Post
WHO CAN AFFORD TO BUY A NEW CAR?
The average monthly vehicle payment for any kind of car or truck is now $691, according to data service Cox Automotive. Consumers should spend no more than 10 percent of their net monthly pay on a vehicle, according to financial website Nerdwallet. Under that guideline, car buyers would need to net $6,910 a month to...
Post
GEN X, MILLENNIALS: GOT NO RETIREMENT DOUGH
About 45 percent of late-stage Millennials, those ages 18 to 35, are waiting for “normal” times to return before beginning their retirement savings, according to Fidelity Investment’s 2022 State of Retirement Planning survey. Almost half the survey’s respondents in that age range “don’t see a point in saving for retirement until things return to normal,”...
Post
MORTGAGE RATES BREAK ABOVE 4 PERCENT FOR FIRST TIME IN THREE YEARS
For the first time since May 2019, interest rates for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages have risen above 4 percent, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation reported last week. The rate hit a historic low of 2.65 percent in January 2021 and stood at an average of 3.22 percent at the beginning of this year. Rates will...
Post
RISE IN HOME EQUITY IN 2021 OUTSTRIPS U.S. ANNUAL INCOME
Last year, for the first time, U.S. homeowners gained more in value through the rise in the value of their homes than by working full-time, according to Zillow Group, which operates the Zillow online real estate brokerage. In 2021, the average value of U.S. homes rose 19.6 percent to $321,634, a gain of $52,667, compared...