Sales of existing homes are beginning to fall as low interest rates on mortgages fail to entice would-be buyers. Existing-home sales fell 3.4% in October from the prior month, according to a new report by the National Association of Realtors. A combination of expensive options, limited inventory growth, and sluggish wage growth has made it hard for Americans to buy houses.
The World Bank recently noted its opinion that growth in Africa hinges largely on a strong and virile judicial system. The World Bank made its comments in conjunction with the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR), and it targeted toward member nations of the African Union (AU).
State officials struggle with the budget as low oil prices hamper production and revenue, jeopardizing the Alaska Permanent Fund, a program that comprises of investment dividends paid to residents, according to the Associated Press. Alaska pays no income or sales taxes, and a majority of the state’s income derives from federal aid and oil production.
Extremely high personal income growth throughout the United States is making the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in December.
A new study by the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that personal incomes grew by 4.6% on average throughout 2014 in metropolitan areas, after rising only 1.1% in 2013.
Initial unemployment claims fell in the U.S. as one indicator of manufacturing activity showed a modest increase.
Weekly initial unemployment claims fell to 271,000, according to a new report by the Department of Labor. For the week ending November 14, seasonally adjusted initial claims fell by 5,000 from the prior week, while the 4-week moving average rose 3,000 from the previous week’s average. Unemployment claims have remained at a 4-week moving average of around 270,000 for most of 2015, making this week’s report roughly in-line with the year’s trend.
Japan lapsed into a technical recession for the second time since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s tenure in office, according to Bloomberg. GDP dropped at an annual 0.8 percent in the third quarter, after falling 0.7 percent in the second quarter. The second recession arose from such factors as weak investment and falling demand from China. The state of the economy will force the government to take additional easing measures in the short-term.
The Pacific region has seen enormous growth in urban populations as more and more people migrate from rural areas to capital cities. As a result, water, sanitation, and health care have become challenges in many parts of the region. According to a report by the World Bank, these urban hubs are now in urgent need of improvement.
A Federal Reserve president has said he wants an interest rate hike immediately, although new data suggests the housing market is turning weaker in the country.
Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said at a conference Tuesday that the job market has improved sufficiently to justify an interest rate hike, adding that he supported a rate hike in September. Lockhart’s hawkish viewpoint is in the minority.
The Indonesian economy continues to stagnate amid low commodity prices and slow domestic demand, according to Bloomberg. GDP growth came in at 4.73 percent from July to September, missing analyst expectations by a slight margin.
President Joko Widodo struggles to improve the economy, especially as the world economy slumps and domestic investment plummets. Government officials’ project that growth will be in the range of 5.0 percent for 2015, but Indonesia will post the slowest rate of growth since the 2008 crisis.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) appears on the verge of downgrading Jordan’s growth forecast due to sluggish economic performance in the first half of 2015. Regional instability has also contributed to the nation’s slow performance, an IMF official said Tuesday.
IMF Mission Chief to Jordan, Kristina Kostial, told a group of journalists in Amman that the IMF’s growth forecast for the nation for 2015 may go down from 2.9 percent, as predicted in October, to just 2.5 percent now.
