Tag Archives: rate
Mortgage payments show rise in delinquencies
New York, NY, United States (AHN) – More homeowners are having a hard time making their mortgage payments.
According to credit reporting agency TransUnion, the rate at which mortgage holders were late with their payments by 60 days or more rose in the June-to-September period for the first time since the last three months of 2009.
TransUnion said 5.88 percent of homeowners missed two or more payments, an early sign of a possible foreclosure. That was up from 5.82 percent in the second quarter of 2011.
The problems were widespread across the nation. All but 10 states and the District of Columbia saw delinquency rates rise.
Arizona had the best rate of improvement in the U.S. While still ranked fourth in the country for the number of delinquencies, the state now has a rate of 7.46 percent. That is a vast improvement from where the state was ranked in the fourth quarter of 2009, when the state’s delinquency rate hit 16 percent, the highest for any state since the foreclosure crisis began.
Experts say the delinquencies can no longer be blamed on bad loans. The bad economy is to blame.
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30-year fixed-rate mortgage ticks down to 4.60%
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked down to 4.60% in the week ending May 26 – the lowest rate since December — down from 4.61% in the prior week, according to a survey released Thursday by Freddie Mac, a buyer of residential mortgages. Last year, the rate was at 4.84%. To obtain the latest rate, payment of an average 0.7 point was required. A point is 1% of the mortgage amount, charged in prepaid interest. “Fixed mortgage rates eased slightly for the sixth consecutive week amid reports of slower economic activity,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, in a statement. The rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.78% in the latest week, down from 3.80% in the prior week. The rate on the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.41%, down from 3.48%. The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 3.11%, down from 3.15%.
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New HHS rule will help rein in health insurance rates
Under new rules, health insurance rate hikes will be subject to stricter scrutiny and public disclosure
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Foreclosures Lower, New Defaults Up
The foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate in April fell 7 basis points from March, Lender Processing Services Inc. reported. But 30-day delinquency, excluding foreclosures, was up 19 BPS. The rise in new defaults helped push the overall non-current rate 12 BPS higher.
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UK unemployment rate drops
London, United Kingdom (AHN) – The unemployment rate in the United Kingdom fell during the first three months of the year, but the number of people filing claims for jobless benefits rose in April, the Office for National Statistics said.
Unemployment declined by 36,000 to 2.46 million people in the first quarter of the year, which was the lowest number since September. It marked the second consecutive quarter of declines and brought the unemployment rate down by 0.1 percentage points to 7.7 percent, which was better than some analysts expected.
Employment increased by 118,000 people.
However, the number of people filing for unemployment compensation benefits in April increased by 12,400 to 1.47 million, the ONS said.
In addition, the number of people unemployed for more than 12 months rose to its highest level since January 2007, increasing by 20,000 to 850,000 people.
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Slighly higher unemployment rate despite more jobs in April
Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The unemployment rate grew 9 percent in April despite the economy adding more jobs than was expected.
The Labor Department said on Friday nonfarm payroll increased 244,000 during the period, boosted by gains in the service, manufacturing and mining industries. In the private sector, 268,000 jobs were added while the federal and state governments lost 24,000 jobs.
There was an increase of 51,000 positions during the month in the professional and businesses services, specifically in technical consulting and coputers systems design.
Jobs related to healthcare rose 37,000, largely due to a 22,000 increase in employment in ambultory healthcare. Hospitals accounted for 10,000 jobs.
In the hospitatility industry, there was continued growth with 46,000 more jobs, mainly from a 30,600 spike in employment in accomodation and food services.
Manufacturing added 29,000 jobs to the economy and mining 11.4 percent.
Despite the gains, the unemployment trate rose to 9 percent in April from 8.8 percent in the previous month.
The number of jobless Americans remained little changed at 13.7 million. Those unemployed for less than five weeks rose by 242,000, but the number of jobless for at least 27 weeks dropped by 283,000 to 5.8 million.
There was virtually the same number of people involutarily working part-time, at 8.6 million.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) used the jobs report to assail the White House for “causing renewed uncertainty for private-sector job creators, crowding out private investment and punishing small businesses and entrepreneurs who are willing to invest.”
“While any improvement is welcome news, job growth in America is still nowhere close to what it should be,” the Republican leader added.
“Over the past month, rather than joining Republicans in focusing on policies that promote long-term economic growth to help balance the federal budget, the Democrats who control Washington have indicated they are planning to increase taxes and allow the government’s spending binge to continue.”
But the White House pointed out that there was an averge of about a quarter of a million private sector jobs created each month for three consecutive months.
“We’re pleased about that. We obviously have a lot more work to do,” presidential spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. “The recession cost the American labor force 8 million jobs and we’re still digging ourselves out of that hole.”
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WA Senate OKs health insurance transparency bill
Bill makes important health insurance rate filing information available to the public
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No interest for rate futures on 91-day bills
In its bid to broadbase the interest rate futures market, the RBI has allowed interest rate futures trading on 91-day treasury bills issued by the govt.
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WA Senate OKs health insurance transparentcy bill
Bill makes important health insurance rate filing information available to the public
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ECB criticised over expected rate rise
The eurozone’s central bank is predicted to raise interest rates and make efforts to wean banks off its unlimited liquidty offers, prompting sharp comments from economists and Greece
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