Elizabeth, Author at Harvester Financial Credit Union

U.S. Median Home Price Appreciation Decelerates

U.S. single family homes and condos sold for a median price of $255,000 in the second quarter, up 6.3 percent from a year ago to a new all-time high but the slowest annual appreciation since Q2 2016, according to property database curator ATTOM Data Solutions. “Annual home price appreciation nationwide has now slowed for five consecutive quarters…

Which Industries Are Growing the Strongest?

Here\’s an interesting report that breaks down economic growth (GDP growth) by industry. Published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the report goes beyond the singular top-line number, to show which industries are doing well, which are doing really well, and which ones are lagging. First, the top-line number. Growth is strong. Economy-wide, real gross…

Who Gets Health Care Benefits at Work?

Medical care benefits were available to 69 percent of private industry workers and 89 percent of state and local government workers in March 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. In private industry, access to employer-sponsored medical care benefits varied by establishment size. Fifty-five percent of private industry workers in small establishments (those with…

Less Love for Waterfront? Buyers Aren’t Paying the Same Premium

The premium for living on the water isn’t as high it used to be. Homes along the water sold for a 36 percent premium in the first quarter of 2018, according to a new analysis from online real estate company Zillow. Zillow said the extra cost for waterfront living is at its lowest level since the…

Back-to-School Shopping Stress

The majority (70%) of parents say back-to-school shopping is stressful, according to a new survey from self-service coin counting kiosk operator Coinstar. Contributing to the anxiety are increasing school expenses, peer pressure to buy the latest fashions and ongoing costs throughout the school year, according to the survey. Rising school costs add to back-to-school stress…

Inflation Heats Up

Prices rose faster over the past year than they have for the previous six years, according to a new report from the government\’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to BLS The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.1 percent in June on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.2 percent in May.…

How to Protect Your Eyes from the Sun

Summer is the season of UV exposure, and the time of year when we really want to protect our eyes from harmful rays. This is why July is National Ultraviolet Safety Month, and why the experts at Lighthouse Guild have prepared some tips for protecting our eyes from the sun. Lighthouse Guild points out that…

Employment Trends Increase, Indicating a Continuation of Robust Hiring

A new report indicates that the strong hiring seen in the June jobs report should continue. The Conference Board said its Employment Trends Index (ETI) increased in June, after decreasing in May. The index now stands at 108.94, up from 107.72 in May. The change represents a 5.2 percent gain in the ETI compared to…

National Ice Cream Day Is Almost Here

Sunday, July 15 is National Ice Cream Day in the U.S., the Census Bureau reminds us. One of the joys of summer and sins of consumption goes back to 1786, when commercially made ice cream was first advertised in New York City. Until then, ice cream was a privately prepared treat. But the New York Post…

These Places Have the Most Student Debt, According to LendingTree

Online loan marketplace LendingTree has released its study on the places with the most student debt. To determine whether there are geographic variations in student debt, LendingTree analysts looked at a sample of anonymized users who logged into My LendingTree in the first quarter of 2018 and calculated how many had student loans, as well as the…