All posts tagged: rises

Average US Long-Term Mortgage Rate Rises to 6.22%, Highest Level in More Than 3 Months

Average US Long-Term Mortgage Rate Rises to 6.22%, Highest Level in More Than 3 Months

Published by Sam Flores

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to its highest level in more than three months, a setback for prospective home shoppers this spring homebuying season. The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.22% from 6.11% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the rate averaged 6.67%. When mortgage rates rise, they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for home shoppers, limiting what they can afford to buy. Only three weeks ago, the average rate had dropped to just under 6% for the first time since late 2022, but it has risen every week since the war with Iran started, rattling financial markets and stoking worries about higher inflation due to a spike in energy prices. Meanwhile, borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also rose this week. That average rate inched up to 5.54% from 5.5% last week. A year ago, it was at 5.83%, Freddie Mac said. Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the …

Experts call for new legislation as food insecurity rises in the UK

Experts call for new legislation as food insecurity rises in the UK

Published by skeptic

The Food Foundation has published new data which shows that food insecurity has increased in the UK since 2022. Food insecurity levels have remained stubbornly high throughout, though they had been slowly decreasing. New data gathered in January, however, shows that food insecurity rates are creeping up once again. With fears growing about what a drawn-out war in Iran could mean for food prices, driven by rising oil prices and limited fertiliser supply, it is more important than ever that the government take action to ensure food security in the UK. Anna Taylor, Executive Director of The Food Foundation, explained: “From energy markets in the Middle East to global fertiliser and shipping routes, our food supply is now tightly bound to geopolitical events we cannot control. “The cost-of-living crisis has already exposed how fragile this system is. Families felt it at the checkout, farmers felt it on their balance sheets, and food banks felt it in record demand.” What factors are causing food insecurity in the UK? Healthier foods remain inaccessible for poorer households Previous …

US Industrial Production Rises For 4th Straight Month In February

US Industrial Production Rises For 4th Straight Month In February

Published by Jenni Sidey

After a strong gain in January, US Industrial Production continued to expand in February, rising 0.2% MoM (better than expected +0.1%) – the fourth straight month of gains with Production up 1.44% YoY… Source: Bloomberg Manufacturing output also beat expectations, rising 0.2% MoM in February. Durable manufacturing output edged up 0.1 percent, with mixed results across categories; the index for motor vehicles and parts posted the largest gain, and the index for machinery posted the largest loss. Nondurable manufacturing output rose 0.2 percent, with gains in the production of chemicals, of plastic and rubber products, and of paper products outweighing declines in the output of petroleum and coal products and of food, beverage, and tobacco products. The output of other manufacturing (publishing and logging) rose 1.3 percent. Mining output increased 0.8 percent in February, following a 0.9 percent increase in January. The output of utilities fell 0.6 percent in February, reflecting no change in the index for electric utilities and a 4.7 percent drop in the index for natural gas utilities. Source: Bloomberg Capacity Utilization …

Keir Starmer to unveil emergency support for households worst hit by energy price rises | Politics News

Keir Starmer to unveil emergency support for households worst hit by energy price rises | Politics News

Published by Sam Flores

Emergency help for poorer households hit by energy bills driven up by the Iran war is to be unveiled by Sir Keir Starmer. The government says it will provide “targeted” support for families that rely on heating oil, the cost of which has risen by 80% in a week. The prime minister is also threatening legal action, which could include fines or other financial penalties, against suppliers who rip off customers. “It’s moments like this that tell you what a government is about,” the prime minister will claim at a news conference in Downing Street. “My answer is clear. Whatever challenges lie ahead, this government will always support working people. “That is my first instinct – my first priority – to help you with the cost of living through this crisis.” The PM will also hit out at claims that some suppliers are cancelling orders for heating oil and then “jacking up prices”. Image: The PM is announcing the ‘targeted’ support on Monday. Pic: PA He will say: “I will not tolerate companies trying to …

Savings Rate Highest In 6 Months As Fed’s Favorite Inflation Indicator Rises Near 2-Year High

Savings Rate Highest In 6 Months As Fed’s Favorite Inflation Indicator Rises Near 2-Year High

Published by Jenni Sidey

The Fed’s favorite inflation indicator – Core PCE (a measure of price changes in consumer goods and services that excludes volatile food and energy costs) – rose o.4% MoM in January (in line with expectations) with YoY rising by 3.1% (as expected), slightly higher than the 3.0% in December… Source Bloomberg That is the highest YoY Core PCE since March 2024. The headline PCE rose 0.3% MoM (as expected) driving prices up 2.8% YoY (down from December’s +2.9% YoY)… Source Bloomberg Services continue to dominate the prices gains with Goods costs dropping very marginally in January… Source Bloomberg For those worried about the impact of crude oil’s recent surge (since the start of the Iran war), it appears – somehow – that PCE’s Energy component has already front-run a lot of the move… Higher prices were met with higher incomes and higher spending (rising in line with one another for a change)… On the income side, wage growth accelerated for both private and govt workers: Private worker salaries up 5.0% YoY in January, up from …

Smoke rises over Beirut after Israeli strike on Raouche building | Israel attacks Lebanon

Smoke rises over Beirut after Israeli strike on Raouche building | Israel attacks Lebanon

Published by Sam Flores

NewsFeed Smoke rose over Beirut after an Israeli strike hit an apartment in the Ramada Hotel building in the Raouche district, killing at least four people and wounding ten others, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Israel said the attack targeted commanders from Iran’s Quds Force operating in the Lebanese capital. Published On 8 Mar 20268 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Source link

US job market stalls, unemployment rate rises before Fed decision | Business and Economy News

US job market stalls, unemployment rate rises before Fed decision | Business and Economy News

Published by Sam Flores

The healthcare sector was hit the hardest while tariff expose sectors remained stagnant Listen to this article | 3 mins info Published On 6 Mar 20266 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share plus2googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo The United States economy unexpectedly lost 92,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4 percent, marking the sixth contraction of the US job market of the Trump administration. The February jobs report was released by the US Labor Department on Friday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Economists had forecast marginal gains, with a survey of economists by the Reuters news agency at 59,000, by Bloomberg News at 55,000, and by Dow Jones at 50,000. The unemployment rate rose slightly by 0.1 percent from 4.3 percent in January, with more than 25 percent of unemployed workers without a job for more than 27 weeks. Hardest hit sectors February’s decline follows downwardly revised gains in January, when the US economy added 126,000 jobs. The healthcare sector was hit the hardest, …

Israeli Airforce Pounds Beirut, Lebanon Death Toll Rises

Israeli Airforce Pounds Beirut, Lebanon Death Toll Rises

Published by Sam Flores

By Abdelaziz Boumzar, Steven Scheer and Alexander Cornwell BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, March 6 (Reuters) – Israel pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs with airstrikes on Friday, ⁠stepping ⁠up a war with Hezbollah that has forced hundreds of thousands ⁠of Lebanese from their homes and killed more than 200, according to a health ministry toll. Israel ordered everyone in the densely-populated suburbs, Hezbollah’s main stronghold ​in the capital, to leave on Thursday before launching strikes that lit up the night sky. It has also warned civilians to quit swathes of southern and eastern Lebanon – heartlands of the Lebanese armed Shi’ite Muslim group. They were the ‌widest evacuation orders ever given by Israel in Lebanon and ‌prompted a huge displacement of people before the bombardments that continued into Friday, sending columns of smoke billowing across the Beirut skyline. “We’re sleeping here in the streets – some in cars, some on the street, some on the beach,” ⁠said Jamal Seifeddin, 43, who ⁠spent the night outside in the capital’s downtown district. “I’ve never slept on the ground like this. I’ve been …

Oil rises over as Iran crisis disrupts Middle East supply

Oil rises over $1 as Iran crisis disrupts Middle East supply

Published by Sam Flores

March 4 : Oil prices rose more than $1 on Wednesday as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran disrupted Middle East output and halted exports from the region. Brent rose $1.11, or 1.4 per cent, to $82.53 a barrel, after closing at its highest since January 2025 on Tuesday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 79 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $75.37, after settling at its highest since June. Israeli and U.S. forces struck targets across Iran on Tuesday, prompting Iranian strikes against energy infrastructure in a region that accounts for just under a third of global oil production. Iraq, the second-largest crude producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, has cut output by nearly 1.5 million barrels a day, about half its production, due to storage limits and the lack of an export route, officials told Reuters. They said the country may have to shut its nearly 3 million bpd of output within days if exports do not resume. Iran has also targeted tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, through which about …