CNN – Business/Consumer

By Anna Bahney, CNN Mortgage rates fell this week as economic data showed inflation is fading. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.15% in the week ending January 19, down from 6.33% the week before, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago, the 30-year fixed rate was 3.56%. “As inflation continues to moderate, mortgage rates declined

By Paul R. La Monica, CNN The market is bracing for a perfect storm of bad news. The latest worry? The impending debt ceiling drama in Washington. The United States hit its borrowing cap on Thursday, forcing the Treasury Department to start taking “extraordinary measures” to keep the government open. If an agreement isn’t reached,

By Anna Bahney, CNN US home building fell in December, as the housing market continued to slow. December housing starts, a measure of new home construction, dropped by 1.4% from November, and were down 21.8% from a year ago, according to data released Thursday by the Census Bureau. But after mortgage rates declined modestly in

By Chris Isidore, CNN Americans can once again buy cars for less than sticker price. But that doesn’t mean they’re finding bargains at their local dealerships. A year ago, record tight inventories meant 80% of buyers were paying more than the manufacturers’ suggested retail price (MSRP), or sticker price, according to data from Edmunds. For

By Alicia Wallace, CNN The number of first-time claims for unemployment insurance fell unexpectedly to 190,000 for the week ending January 14, according to Department of Labor data released Thursday. The latest total is the lowest in 15 weeks and far below economists’ expectations of 214,000, according to consensus estimates on Refinitiv. The steady level

By Parija Kavilanz, CNN Consumers, spooked by accelerating job cuts, looming recession fears and continuing high prices for goods and services in 2023, are trading down when they’re shopping, and that includes in secondhand stores. Demand for secondhand goods remains red hot, with the resale market expected to reach $82 billion in sales by 2026,

By Nicole Goodkind, CNN Business The US government is set to hit its self-imposed borrowing limit today and both Wall Street and Washington are hoping for a resolution — but preparing for the worst. The ongoing brinkmanship in Congress over whether or not to allow the federal government to borrow more money to pay its

By Pete Muntean, CNN A source familiar with the near-collision of two airliners on a John F. Kennedy International Airport runway tells CNN that special flashing lights which warn pilots against taxiing across a runway were in fact working. The new development further raises the possibility that human error contributed to the Friday evening incident.

By Sean Lyngaas, CNN US authorities arrested a Russian cryptocurrency executive who allegedly oversaw the exchange of hundreds of millions of dollars with drug traffickers and cybercriminals. Anatoly Legkodymov, 40, was arrested in Miami, the Justice Department said Wednesday. The US Treasury Department has labeled his cryptocurrency exchange, Bitzlato Limited, a “primary money laundering concern,”

By Anna Bahney, CNN A modest drop in mortgage rates over the past month has helped home builder confidence improve in January, after 12 consecutive months of falling, according to a survey released Wednesday. Experts say that could mean new home building is set for a pivot as construction prospects improve. And that’s good news

By Allison Morrow, CNN When Jane Fraser became CEO of Citigroup nearly two years ago, in the middle of the pandemic, she established the kind of flexible hybrid work culture that’s mostly unheard of among elite Wall Street bankers. Although Fraser sees no need to return to the old ways, Citi’s experiment has shown not