Zillow’s decision to pull the plug on Zillow Offers, its tech-powered business of buying and selling homes, came as a surprise amid the still-hot housing market and prompted a question: Is the business model flawed? As the third-quarter earnings reports from two of Zillow's competitors showed, it's too ... READ MORE >
pandemic
Chart of the day: Consumer confidence erodes to decade low in November
Concerns over inflation crept into consumer confidence in November, pushing the index from the University of Michigan to a decade low of 66.8 from 71.7 in October, according to data released on Friday. Behind the decline was the rise in gasoline prices, which have long had a significant effect in ... READ MORE >
Strong labor demand pushed quit rate to a record
Demand for labor showed little change in September as job openings stayed at 10.4 million and the rate of people quitting their jobs reached an all-time high at 3.0%, according to new data on Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The imbalance of the labor market, where demand for labor ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: Jobless claims approach pre-pandemic level
Claims for jobless benefits continued to signal a steady bounce back of the labor market as new filings declined to a pandemic low of 267,000 for the week ending Nov. 6. That was 4,000 fewer claims compared to the previous week and was the sixth consecutive weekly drop, according to data on Wednesday ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: Producer prices rise as cost pressures mount
The producer price index inched up 0.6% in October with about a third of the increase coming from higher gasoline prices. This followed a 0.5% increase in September and a 0.7% increase in August, according to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday. Still, October’s increase remained ... READ MORE >
U.S. October jobs report: Hiring booms as unemployment falls to 4.6%
Traditionally after recessions, once the unemployment rate falls below 5%, workers on the sideline tend to begin trickling back into the workforce. The October U.S. employment report released on Friday was no exception, showing an increase of 531,000 jobs and a decline of roughly 255,000 in the jobless ... READ MORE >
Canada’s trade surplus widened amid microchip shortage
Canada’s merchandise trade balance had the fourth consecutive month of surplus in September as global supply chain bottlenecks debilitated the automotive industry, according to data released by Statistics Canada on Thursday. Although the surplus widened, the falling of both exports by 2.3% and imports ... READ MORE >
Initial jobless claims drop to pandemic low as labor market rebounds
New filings for jobless claims declined for the fifth consecutive month as labor shortages kept layoffs low. At the current pace, new jobless claims could reach their pre-pandemic level by the end of the year. Initial jobless claims declined to 269,000 for the week ending Oct. 30, following an ... READ MORE >
Fed slows asset purchases as it moves to end pandemic-era accommodation
The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that later this month it would start paring back its pandemic-era monetary accommodation even as it held its policy rate between zero and 25 basis points. This policy step, announced after the two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, creates ... READ MORE >
Chart of the day: Service sector grew at record pace
The Services Purchasing Managers’ Index hit a record high in October at 66.7%, 4.8 percentage points higher than in September, confirming the recent shift in consumption from goods to services that will last until the end of the year. A reading above 49.2% indicates expansion. The surging overall ... READ MORE >