Rates still low as homebuying time starts
WASHINGTON -- Long-term U.S. mortgage rates stayed near 2016 lows this week, potentially good news for the housing market as homebuying picks up in the spring.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage edged up to 3.59 percent from 3.58 percent last week. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped to 2.85 percent, lowest since May 2013, and down from 2.86 percent last week.
The rate on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages slipped to 2.81 percent from 2.84 percent last week.
Mortgage rates are lower than they were in mid-December when the Federal Reserve raised short-term rates for the first time since 2006. The Fed increase was expected to be the first of several and would push mortgage and other rates higher. Instead, weakness in the global economy has helped keep rates low.
A year ago, the average 30-year mortgage rate stood at 3.65 percent and the 15-year was at 2.92 percent.
Spring house-shopping has gotten off to a solid start. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that sales of previously owned homes rose 5.1 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.33 million. The low rates have made it easier for buyers to afford homes.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., surveys lenders across the country at the beginning of each week. The average doesn't include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
-- The Associated Press
Acxiom's LiveRamp names top executive
LiveRamp a marketing-services company owned by Acxiom Corp., has named Jeff Smith as its chief marketing officer.
Smith will "accelerate LiveRamp's growth by broadening the industry's understanding of the strategic importance of data connectivity and its ability to unlock better customer experiences on any channel or device," the company said in a news release.
Smith led marketing efforts for Nielsen before joining LiveRamp, according to the news release.
Acxiom bought LiveRamp, based in San Francisco, in 2014 to help the Little Rock data firm collect offline data for marketing applications.
-- Jessica Seaman
Walgreens settles N.Y. case over pricing
Walgreens is paying $500,000 to settle the latest case of a company accused of duping New York consumers over prices.
The New York attorney general's office said Thursday that an undercover investigation found several cases where Walgreens used misleading advertising. It also accused the nation's largest drugstore chain of overcharging customers.
The state regulator said Walgreens charged different prices at the register for some products compared with figures that appeared in print ads or on store shelf tags. That included tags that remained up after the advertised price had expired.
Walgreens says it is making improvements in how it communicates in its stores and advertising.
Late last year, the grocer Whole Foods said it would pay New York City $500,000 to settle allegations that it overcharged customers for packaged foods.
-- The Associated Press
Solar firm SunEdison files for bankruptcy
NEW YORK -- SunEdison, a one-time star in the alternative energy field, filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday after years of rapid-fire acquisitions left the solar company in a desperate cash situation.
The company filed with the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
Just last week, an audit committee reviewing operations at the Maryland Heights, Mo., company found an "overly optimistic culture and its tone at the top." The committee also said that at SunEdison, "cash forecasting efforts lack sufficient controls and processes."
-- The Associated Press
Jobless filings remain at 40-year low
WASHINGTON -- The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits remained at a four-decade low last week, a sign that employers are unconcerned about weak economic growth in the first three months of 2016.
Weekly applications for benefits declined to a seasonally adjusted 247,000, the lowest reading since November 1973, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average, a less-volatile figure, dropped 4,500 to 260,500. The total number of people receiving benefits has fallen 7.6 percent from a year ago to 2.14 million.
Applications are a proxy for layoffs. The historically low figures indicate that employers are holding on to workers and possibly looking to hire more, a positive sign for an economy that endured a rocky start to the year. Many analysts are forecasting sluggish growth of less than 1 percent annualized during the first three months of the year, as stock markets and the broader global economy turned volatile.
Yet the declining number of requests for unemployment aid suggests that hiring will continue uninterrupted. A level of applications this low generally corresponds with monthly net job gains of more than 200,000. Applications have been below 300,000 for 59 straight weeks, the longest consecutive period since 1973.
-- The Associated Press
China orders banks to fund steel exports
BEIJING -- Regulators told Chinese banks on Thursday to finance steel exports to help reduce a supply glut in a move that stands to worsen trade tensions with Europe and the United States.
China faces pressure from the United States and Europe to stop what they complain is a strategy of trying to clear away a backlog of steel by exporting at unfairly low prices. Washington imposed anti-dumping duties last month on Chinese steel.
The latest order to finance exports is part of instructions from the Chinese central bank and financial regulators to lenders to support the overhaul of state-owned steel and coal industries.
China is trying to shrink bloated companies, many of them state-owned, in industries including steel, coal, glass, cement and aluminum in which supply exceeds demand. That has led to price-cutting wars and heavy losses.
Last month, Washington announced anti-dumping tariffs of up to 266 percent on some Chinese steel.
Britain's government faces pressure to act after Tata Steel cited low-cost Chinese competition when it announced plans this month to sell money-losing operations there that employ 20,000 people. In Brussels, European steelworkers have protested outside the European Union headquarters.
Chinese bank support to steel and coal companies can include "syndicated loans, export credit and project financing," according to the order by the central bank and the securities, banking and insurance regulators.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 04/22/2016