19 Jun 2014
By Mark Feder

FOMC Statement: Quantitative Easing Tapered by $10 Billion

Financial Reports
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) determined that current economic conditions warranted another $10 billion reduction in the Fed's asset purchases. Citing improvements in economic indicators including labor markets and national unemployment, committee members said that further tapering of its quantitative easing (QE) asset purchases was warranted. The Fed will now purchase a total of $35 billion monthly in treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities. While continued reductions in the Fed's asset purchases could contribute to rising mortgage rates, the FOMC statement said that the Fed's "sizeable and still increasing" holdings of long-term securities is expected to hold down long term…
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11 Jun 2013
By Mark Feder
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Increasing May Jobs Report Shows Strengthening Economy

Financial Reports
The U.S. Department of Labor released its Non-Farm Payrolls and National Unemployment Rate reports Friday showing 175,000 jobs were added in May, which surpassed expectations of 164,000 new jobs and April's reading of 149,000 jobs added. The jobs added in May were largely from the private sector. However, the national unemployment rate for May was 7.60 percent, one-tenth of a percent higher than expectations and the April reading of 7.50 percent. The rise was attributed to more people entering the workforce as opposed to people losing jobs. 420,000 workers joined the workforce in May, which pushed the civilian participation rate…
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10 Apr 2013
By Mark Feder
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Federal Jobs Report Shows Biggest Increase Since 2008

Financial Reports
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued its Job Openings and Labor Turnover report for February on Tuesday, April 9th, 2013. The data was mixed with preliminary figures for all non-farm jobs increasing from 3.62 million jobs in January to 3.93 million jobs in February. This was the highest month-to- month increase in jobs since May 2008.  Non-farm jobs increased by 399,000 jobs from 3.53 million in February 2012 to 3.93 million jobs in February 2013, an increase of 10.2 percent year-over-year. More Jobs Means More Opportunities For Home Ownership More jobs generally means higher incomes and stability which enable…
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