Data & Trends

ABA: Survey Shows Online, Mobile Are Most Popular Banking Channels

Results show different generations have different banking tendencies Forty percent of Americans manage their bank accounts online more frequently than any other method, according to a recent survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the American Bankers Association.  One in 4 consumers (26 percent) use their mobile devices most often to conduct their banking…

Census Bureau: Startup Firms Created Over 2 Million Jobs in 2015

In 2015, the nation’s 414,000 startup firms created 2.5 million new jobs according to data from the Census Bureau’s Business Dynamics Statistics. In contrast, this level of startup activity is well below the pre-Great Recession average of 524,000 startup firms and 3.3 million new jobs per year for the period 2002-2006. Other highlights include: Job…

Census Bureau: New American Community Survey Statistics for States and Local Areas

The U.S. Census Bureau today released its most detailed look at America’s people, places and economy with new statistics on income, poverty, health insurance and more than 40 other topics from the American Community Survey. Many states saw an increase in income and a decrease in poverty rates between 2015 and 2016. During that same…

Census Bureau: Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the U.S. 2016

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that real median household income increased by 3.2 percent between 2015 and 2016, while the official poverty rate decreased 0.8 percentage points. At the same time, the percentage of people without health insurance coverage decreased. Median household income in the United States in 2016 was $59,039, an increase in…

Census Bureau: The Digital Divide – Broadband Usage Across the Nation

States on the Pacific Coast and most of those in the Northeast such as New Hampshire and Massachusetts had higher levels of broadband internet use compared to the national average (77 percent), according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report on Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2015. These tended to be the…

Census Bureau: Webinar on Release of 2016 American Community Survey Statistics

What: The U.S. Census Bureau will hold a webinar on Sept. 7 from 1-2 p.m. in advance of the Sept. 14 release of the 2016 American Community Survey statistics. The webinar will show participants how to access new data and online resources from the 2016 American Community Survey. Attendees will also learn about changes related…

Census Bureau: New Report on the Characteristics of Female Veterans

A new report on the characteristics of female veterans released today by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that early-career aged female veterans (18 to 34 years old) were more likely to be employed, married and have a child in their home than early-career aged female nonveterans. This report, which uses 2015 American Community Survey data,…

Federal Reserve: Improving the 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage

FEDS (Finance and Economics Discussion Series) 2017-90 | August 2017 Wayne Passmore and Alexander H. von Hafften Abstract: The 30-year fixed-rate fully amortizing mortgage (or “traditional fixed-rate mortgage”) was a substantial innovation when first developed during the Great Depression. However, it has three major flaws. First, because homeowner equity accumulates slowly during the first decade,…

FHFA: Index Shows Mortgage Rates Decreased in July 2017

Nationally, interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages decreased from June to July, according to several indices of new mortgage contracts. The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders Index was 3.99 percent for loans closed in late July, down 1 basis point from 4.00 percent in June….

HUD and Census Bureau: New Residential Home Sales July 2017

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau today jointly announced the following new residential sales statistics for July 2017: NEW HOME SALES Sales of new single-family houses in July 2017 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 571,000, according to estimates released jointly today by…