Jerome Powell

Fed cuts rates by 25 bps as inflation lingers, labor market weakens 

The Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday, setting the target range at 4% to 4.25%. The first cut since December 2024 marks a new phase in the central bank’s effort to balance maximum employment and stable prices. Economists say it could usher in an easing cycle with direct […]

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Lisa Cook loan docs listing ‘vacation home’ seem to undermine mortgage fraud claims

Mortgage documents have been at the center of an effort by President Donald Trump to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook over alleged mortgage fraud, but a loan estimate from 2021, first seen and reported by Reuters on Friday, seems to undermine those allegations. The loan estimate for an Atlanta condo Cook bought in 2021 shows

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911,000 jobs cut in latest revisions. Is the Fed already too late?

The annual job revisions data was released today, which showed that 911,000 jobs that were supposedly created from March 2024 to March 2025 were removed from the books. The estimates were for 818,000 jobs to be lost in this report, so it came in worse than expected. Lower job growth has been a theme recently,

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Trump fires Lisa Cook in latest move to pack Federal Reserve with supporters

President Donald Trump fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook Monday evening after calling for her resignation last week over allegations of mortgage fraud. The move further consolidates Trump’s power at the Fed, which has traditionally been an independent organization shielded from overtly political actions. Cook, who was appointee to the seven-member Federal Reserve Board by

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Powell’s Jackson Hole speech stirs cautious optimism for housing

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium left real estate and mortgage professionals cautiously optimistic. While expectations are building for lower interest rates, volatility remains a concern. In his final address as Fed chair at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual conference, Powell signaled the possibility

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Mortgage rates hit year-to-date lows after Powell comments

We’ve reached fresh new year-to-date lows in mortgage rates after Jerome Powell, speaking at the Jackson Hole Economic Summit on Friday, suggested that the labor market may be more important than inflation for the time being. If only someone had been saying that for a few years! All jokes aside, mortgage rates have been trending

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Mortgage rates drop to another new low for 2025

Mortgage rates reached a new 2025 low today, despite core inflation running at 3.1% year over year, according to the CPI report this week. The softening labor data and improved mortgage spreads currently overshadow any concerns about inflation. If the jobs data were exceeding estimates, the situation would be different. According to Mortgage News Daily,

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Treasury eyes Bowman, Jefferson and Logan for Fed Chair

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is reportedly considering three more candidates for the next Federal Reserve chair: Vice Chairs Michelle Bowman and Philip Jefferson, and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan.  However, other candidates will be interviewed in the coming weeks, Bloomberg reported based on talks with two administration officials. Potential candidates include President Donald Trump’s economic advisor

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Mortgage rates hit lowest levels of 2025

Following the surprising jobs report released on Friday, the 10-year yield dipped slightly on Monday. As a result, mortgage rates have reached a new low for 2025, with Mortgage Daily News reporting a rate of 6.57%. Remarkably, we haven’t seen a single Fed rate cut this year! The bond market influences the Federal Reserve, and

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Mortgage rate mythbusting: Destroying the most common misconceptions

Bad takes about mortgage rates spread faster than wildfire — especially when they come from politicians or go viral on X. But when these narratives are misleading or flat-out wrong, they don’t just confuse consumers. They erode trust in our industry and inject unnecessary chaos into an already complex housing market. It’s time to set

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