Economy Watch: Residential Foreclosures Down, But Still High
Foreclosure specialist RealtyTrac reported that foreclosure filings dropped a little less than 1 percent during the third quarter of 2011 compared with the second quarter.
Economy Watch: Fed Uncertain What to Do
The Federal Reserve released the minutes of its Sept. 20-21 FOMC meeting on Wednesday, and to some extent they showed a central bank uncertain about how to handle the unexpected halt in the recovery in mid-2011.
Economy Watch: Jobs Bill Sunk by Senate
The U.S. Senate, in a procedural vote on Tuesday night, voted 50 to 49 to open debate on President Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill, thus effectively scuttling the measure.
Economy Watch: Wall Street Has a ‘What-Me-Worry?’ Day
Even though it was Columbus Day, U.S. equities markets weren’t closed on Monday, and investors took advantage of the open markets to buy and then buy some more.
Economy Watch: September Jobs Report: Better Than Nothing
Recent employment trends haven’t been particularly positive. Since April, payroll employment has increased by an average of 72,000 jobs per month, compared with an average increase of 161,000 during the seven months before this April.
‘Economy Watch’ Podcast with Dees Stribling: September’s Job Numbers
Dees Stribling discusses the state of the economy for the week ending 10/7.
Economy Watch: ADP Reports Middling Job Growth in September
According to ADP, private U.S. businesses hired a net of 91,000 workers in September, a little up from August’s revised figure of 89,000.
‘Economy Watch’ Podcast with Dees Stribling: Good News on Jobs, But Not Housing
Dees Stribling’s take on the economy for the week ending 9/30.
Economy Watch: Among Euro-Troubles, Ireland Not Doing Badly
Are there grounds for optimism about the European economy? Maybe in Ireland. The Irish economy posted a 1.6 percent quarterly GDP gain from the first to the second quarter of 2011.
Economy Watch: Home Prices See Monthly Uptick But Annual Decline
According to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller home-price indexes released on Tuesday, U.S. home prices were up in July for the fourth month in a row.