Good morning! It's Hira with your daily morning digest.
This morning, the University of Michigan released the preliminary reading of its Consumer Sentiment Index for March, showing a 10.6% boost in sentiment, though it remained near decade-long lows. The index registered a reading of 65.7, up from last month's 59.4, as consumer outlooks for the year ahead and a strong labor market lifted wage expectations for those under the age of 45 to 5.3%—the most in over three decades.
The number of people filing for unemployment for the first time ticked up by 18,000 to 185,000 last week. Although it rose more than expected, the number of initial jobless claims was still in line with pre-pandemic levels, in a sign of continued strength in the U.S. labor market. Rising inflation also hasn't stopped consumers from spending, though retail sales slowed. Retail sales rose 0.5% last month, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, down slightly from February's upwardly revised increase of 0.8%.
A string of bird flu outbreaks in the Midwest is making processed eggs—and your grocery bill—more expensive. The outbreak is particularly affecting the cost of "breaker eggs" (eggs that go into processed foods such as cake mixes and pastas), and that could increase production costs for manufacturers and sales prices for consumers.
As the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to fight inflation, loans like mortgages are becoming increasingly expensive for borrowers, leading to a slowdown in refinancing activity. Yesterday, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported refinancing declined to the slowest weekly rate since 2019 as mortgage rates rose to their highest levels since 2018.
The Balance data has shown 30-year fixed mortgage rates over 5% since late March. Yesterday, the average rate offered to homebuyers using a conventional 30-year fixed mortgage fell slightly to 5.71% from 5.86% the previous business day. A few days ago it was at 5.87%, its highest point since at least 2019, according to data collected by The Balance.
- Hira
0 comments:
Post a Comment