On 11 April, the national average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose .13 of a percentage point to reach 7.1 percent, its loftiest since mid-February, according to Mortgage News Daily (MND).
Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT – Apr 15 2025
RECORD NUMBER OF CREDIT CARD HOLDERS MAKING ONLY MINIMUM PAYMENTS
In the final quarter of last year, 11.2 percent of credit card holders were making only minimum payments on their accounts, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE PLUNGES DEEPER
Consumers’ confidence in the U.S. economy sank deeper into darkness as Donald Trump’s tariff war escalated in the first week of this month, according to the University of Michigan’s initial April survey of consumer sentiment.
SLAVELANDIA: FOUR IN FIVE AMERICANS ARE FINANCIALLY STRESSED
Seventy-three percent of Americans responding to a CNBC survey report being “financially stressed.”
U.S. INFLATION EASED FURTHER IN MARCH
Headline inflation ticked down 0.1 of a percentage point to 2.4 percent in March after settling at 2.5 percent the month before, the first time since May 2020 that the rate has declined two months in a row, the U.S. Labor Department reported.
ECONOMIC UPDATE—MARKET OVERVIEW
Go to the $6 weekend print edition of The Wall Street Journal... couldn’t find an article that gold prices spiked to new highs and closed at $3,225 per ounce. As we go to press, gold is up some $22 per ounce and spot gold is selling $3,231 per ounce.