Vacancy rates for urban apartments stand at or near record levels around the U.S., while millions of low-income earners have stopped paying rent but remain in their homes under state and federal eviction bans. Those factors are jeopardizing the future of the $1.2-trillion market in mortgage-backed securities, which bundle individual mortgages into packages sold to...
Category: TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT
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MANHATTAN APARTMENT RENTALS SNAP BACK
In December, 5,459 apartment leases were signed in Manhattan, 94 percent more than a year earlier, according to real estate agency Douglas Elliman and research firm Miller Samuel. For three-bedroom apartments, which averaged $8,000 monthly rent, leasings were up 171 percent from a year previous, the report noted. This marks the third consecutive month of...
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PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS LOAD UP ON CHEAP DEBT TO BUY COMPANIES
Taking advantage of low-interest rates, private equity firms are taking on more and more debt to buy more and more companies. BC Partners is borrowing $480 million to take over Women’s Care Florida, lifting its debt to nine times its earnings. Odyssey Investment Partners is shouldering $600 million in loans to buy Protective Industrial Products,...
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PRICE HIKES LURKING BEYOND PANDEMIC
Consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in December from November, putting them 1.4 percent above December 2019’s level, the U.S. Commerce Department reported. Core prices – those other than food and energy – were up 0.1 percent on the month and 1.6 percent on the year. The COVID War and economic shutoff have boosted prices for...
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ECONOMY REMAINS FAR FROM FED’S GOALS, POWELL SAYS
The U.S. jobs market remains weak, Jerome Powell, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, acknowledged in a webcast for Princeton University. Also, inflation has barely begun to stir and remains far below the Fed’s 2-percent target rate, he noted. Therefore, “now is not the time to be talking about exit” from the Fed’s policies of...
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CONSUMER SPENDING DECEMBER SLUMP
It was not a Merry Christmas. U.S. retail sales dipped 0.7 percent in December from November, the U.S. Commerce Department reported. Afraid of getting hit by COVID, running out of money, and locked down by politicians with tighter social restrictions, consumers reduced their store visits. “Faced with rising transmission of the virus, state restrictions on...
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U.S. GDP WILL GROW 4.3% THIS YEAR
The U.S. economy will expand by 4.3 percent in 2021, according to a consensus of economists polled by the Wall Street Journal. Last month, the consensus had foreseen a 3.7-percent growth outlook for the new year. What will drive it up? The same lines that have been repeated for three months: a more aggressive vaccination...
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FIRST-QUARTER DEFICIT ALMOST $600 BILLION
The U.S. booked a budget deficit of $572.9 billion in the first quarter of its new fiscal year, a fiscal hole of 60.7 percent, or $216.3 billion, deeper than during the same period a year earlier. The budget gap widened as spending zoomed up 18.7 percent to pay for pandemic-related health care and an array...
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BIDEN DETAILS $1.9-TRILLION “AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN”
Arguing that bold, broad actions are needed to pull the economy back onto its tracks, President-elect Joe Biden unveiled his $1.9-trillion “American Rescue Plan” on 14 January. Key measures include: $20 billion for a national vaccination program, $50 billion for COVID testing, and hiring 100,000 new public health workers; adding $1,400 to the $600 payments...
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HIRING DOWN, LAYOFFS UP ACROSS INDUSTRIES IN NOVEMBER
At November’s end, 1.6 percent fewer jobs were advertised than a year previous, the first slip since August, the U.S. Labor Department reported. At the same time, layoffs jumped 17.6 percent to 1.9 million, as layoffs in the lodging and hospitality industries more than doubled due to new restrictions on social mobility. Layoffs have largely...