National Economy

From Bloomberg News
Trustees of the $6.8 billion pension fund for Missouri public employees, which lost almost $2 billion in 2008, voted to consider lawsuits seeking damages if they suffer future investment losses.

The Missouri State Retirement System trustees, Mosers, voted Thursday to solicit reports from law firms about prospects for legal action.

Public pensions across the country are suing companies and investment banks for their investments’ performance in 2008, a year in which the S&P 500 index lost 37 percent. Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray on Friday sued the rating companies Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Corp. and Fitch Group Inc. over “misleading evaluations” of mortgage- backed securities.

This isn't prime house-hunting season. But for those who may be in the market or looking to take advantage of homebuyer tax credits, there's more good news about mortgage rates.

From the Associated Press:
Rates on 30-year mortgages stayed below 5 percent this week but remained above the record set earlier this year, Freddie Mac said Thursday.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 4.83 percent, down from 4.91 percent last week, the mortgage company said. Last year at this time, 30-year mortgages averaged 6.04 percent.

Real average earnings slipped slightly again in October.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the seasonally adjusted figure fell 0.1 percent over the month.

A 0.3 percent increase in inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, offset a 0.3 percent increase in average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory workers.

From October 2008 to October 2009, real average hourly earnings grew 2.8 percent. But that was offset by a 1.5 percent decline in average weekly hours worked.

Annual wage gains for private sector workers likely will remain at or near historic lows in the coming months, according to the preliminary fourth quarter BNA Wage Trend Indicator™ released this morning.

The outlook, published as a proprietary index, dropped to 97.49 from 98.00 in the third quarter, its seventh consecutive quarterly decline.

“The employment market is still weak, and employers remain fairly skittish about adding workers or giving big wage increases until they see how strong the recovery is going to be,” said Kathryn Kobe, a BNA economic consultant.

A buyer's market?If you're looking for one way to land a new home, consider the foreclosure market. Same with an office building.

There are plenty of both on the auction block, thanks to the financial crisis of the past two years.

A Deloitte survey of 2,000 Americans found that about 1 in 5 will travel and stay overnight at a lodging facility over the holidays.

That's true for 18 percent of the respondents for Thanksgiving week or weekend and for 22 percent for the December-New Year's Day period.

Deloitte said those numbers are cause for "cautious optimism" about the tourism and hospitality economy.

What may be more encouraging is that 32 percent expect to travel overnight between Jan. 1 and March 31.

KC Board of TradeThe Commodity Futures Trading Commission is seeking public omment on a request from the Kansas City Board of Trade regarding its clearinghouse business.

From Reuters
Tom Hoenig A Federal Reserve official said on Monday that the U.S. economy still faced "significant weaknesses" and urged policymakers to allow large financial institutions to fail if needed.

Bullish on home improvements?Earnings reports from home-improvement retailers Lowe's and Home Depot will provide another gut check on how consumers are spending their dollars. Other big retailers, including Target and The Limited, report earnings this week, too.

The recession may be (officially) over but consumers aren't buying it.

The national measure of consumer sentiment tumbled in November by 4.6 percent percentage points to 66 percent.

Analysts had expected an increase to 71 percent.

This doesn't bode well for the all-important fourth-quarter shopping season that makes or breaks retail sales years.

A national jobless rate that exceeds 10 percent, continued high levels of mass layoffs, fears of job loss, fallen housing prices, higher health care costs, and tight credit have combined to make consumers worried.