Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT – Feb 28 2023

The transition to remote and hybrid work will drive U.S. office vacancies 55 percent above pre-COVID levels and leave 1.1 billion square feet of office space unused by 2030, according to a new study by real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.

From 2017 through 2021, more than 300 top officials at the U.S. energy department held investments related to the agency’s work, in violation of department ethics guidelines, a Wall Street Journal investigation shows.

The total market value of U.S. homes fell from an all-time high of $47.7 trillion in June to $45.4 trillion at the end of December, slumping 4.9 percent in the largest percentage drop in value since 2008 during the Great Recession, according to a study by online broker Redfin. 

American 401(k) plans lost 23 percent of their value in 2022, with the average account falling to a balance of $103,900, according to Fidelity Investments, which manages 35 million retirement savings accounts.

Consumers spent 1.8 percent more dollars in January than in December, according to the U.S. commerce department, adjusting a flash census bureau estimate of 3 percent offered earlier this month.

With the prospect of higher interest rates looming, prices of treasury securities are down about 5 percent this month and the bond market in general has fallen about 3 percent.

The dollar has been on a tear for more than a year, surpassing the value of six other major currencies last May and wreaking havoc around the world.

After ringing up more than $1.1 billion in new investments last month, inflows to bond funds have slowed in February after strong recent economic data stirred concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates higher for longer.

Members of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate-setting Open Market Committee are considering a quarter-point increase in its key federal funds interest rate at each of its next two meetings, but could jack the rate by three-quarters of a point in November and a half-point in December, minutes of the committee’s meeting earlier this month reveal.