Patrick Barley News Today

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index in March fell to its lowest levels since 2012, as inflation continues to be a top worry for small business owners, who increasingly fear a drop in sales.

Commodities Rally Reflects a Better Economy, but Also Poses Inflation Risks By Bob Henderson Surging raw materials prices suggest a strengthening economy and increasing inflation risk....

BBC Breakfast host Sally Nugent is starring in this year's Strictly Christmas Special. Here we look at her life off-screen from her 'secret' son to recent split with husband Gavin

Housing affordability has hit its lowest level since the 1980s as soaring mortgage rates fail to pour water on Americas red-hot property market.

Luxury homes have gone up 9 percent in price over the last year, vastly outstripping the growth of non-luxury sales, new analysis shows.

Soaring mortgage rates and the Federal Reserves aggressive rate hiking campaign could tip the housing market into a recession that echoes the slowdown of the 1980s, Wells Fargo has warned.

Construction spending increased 0.4% in September from the previous month, as a housing shortage is boosting new construction, though high interest rates may hamper further gains.

US home prices continued to rise for the seventh consecutive month in August - hitting a record high - according to new data.

Strategists compared the current slowdown in activity to the 1980s, when the Fed's aggressive interest-rate hikes also put pressure on house prices.

“The residential sector now appears to be contracting alongside the recent move higher in mortgage rates,” the bank’s economists wrote.