Yesterday’s FOMC minutes mentioned the word “patience” in the context of how students of the economy should await the eventual rising of interest rates by our hey-we-are-doing-the-best-we-can policy makers at the Federal Reserve. This one word alone has helped mortgage rates stabilize again, if only momentarily.
Fewer laid off (or just plain fired) workers filed for unemployment last week than was anticipated; Weekly Jobless Claims fell 21K to 283,000. With the unemployment rate also stabilizing (remember that it increased 1/10% this month), those of us with jobs are caring less and less about the labor market as to the impact it has on our economy. You see, it’s no longer the squeaky wheel.
The squeaky wheel, as it were, at the moment is being heard from the European Union. Particularly, Greece still has once again failed to come up with a plan to repay its massive amount of debt (mostly owed to Germany). The ancient country known as much for it’s history as for its gyros is at risk of its accumulating interest outpacing its shrinking GDP.
