By Jeff Stein, Washington Post America’s federal debt is set to exceed the size of the entire U.S. economy this year for only the second time since the end of World War II, a reflection of the extraordinary emergency measures approved by Congress in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the
By Lorie Konish, CNBC Many Americans are eager to see more money from the federal government in the form of $1,400 stimulus checks. But another part of Democrats’ $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, changes to the child tax credit, could actually give qualifying families more money than the direct payments.
By Tami Luhby, CNN (CNN) – An estimated 11.4 million workers will lose their unemployment benefits between mid-March and mid-April unless Congress passes its next coronavirus relief package in coming weeks, a new study has found. Out-of-work Americans will start running out of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment
By Chris Arnold, OPB Homeowners who’ve lost their jobs or income say their lenders are demanding punishing terms if they take part in what’s supposed to be a government effort to help them. To avoid a wave of home loan defaults, Congress and regulators told lenders that they have to let
High school students, union activists & fast food workers marched in Manhattan’s Upper West Side to demand a $15 per hour federal minimum wage. – New York City – April 15, 2015 (Shutterstock) By Jeff Cox, CNBC Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, as President Joe
By Jessica Dickler, CNBC In times of financial distress, credit cards are one of the easiest ways to access cash. During the coronavirus crisis, more than half, or 51%, of adults with credit card debt — roughly 51 million people — added to their balances, according to a report by
By Liz Capo McCormick, Craig Torres, Mathieu Benhamou, and Demetrios Pogkas, Bloomberg In the battle against Covid-19, governments around the globe are on the cusp of becoming more indebted than at any point in modern history, surpassing even World War II. From Germany to Japan, Canada to China, fiscal authorities
By Megan DeMatteo, CNBC Personal loans were the fastest-growing debt category in 2019, but new data from Experian found that changed in 2020. While personal loans saw a 12% year-over-year increase in 2019, the category only grew 1% in 2020 (the slowest for any debt category last year) with fewer people taking out loans.
By Diana Olick, CNBC Sharp gains in home prices and a slight rise in interest rates combined to weaken demand for mortgages last week. Total mortgage application volume fell 4.1% from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Homebuyers are seeing prices rise at the
By Alyssa Fowers, Washington Post Last week, the Biden administration took over an economy that has been severely hobbled by the coronavirus pandemic. While unemployment has risen for all types of workers, jobs have recovered slowly but steadily for Americans with some college education, according to Labor Department data. That
