QUOTE OF THE DAY
“When you look at the labor market, job destruction has been very, very low. It’s
really been an issue of new hiring. That hiring, we think, is gradually picking up.”
Scott Brown, Raymond James & Associates Inc. chief economist Article, 1D
30-year mortgage rate falls to 4.23%
WASHINGTON - Average U.S. rates for fixed mortgages fell this week as the latest data continued to indicate a pause in the housing market’s recovery.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate for the 30-year loan declined to 4.23 percent from 4.32 percent last week. The average for the 15-year loan dipped to 3.33 percent from 3.40 percent.
Mortgage rates have risen about a full percentage point since hitting record lows roughly a year ago.
Saying the economy was gaining strength, the Fed pushed ahead last week with a plan to reduce the bond purchases, which have kept long-term interest rates low.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., surveys lenders across the country between Monday and Wednesday each week. The average doesn’t include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
The average fee for a 30-year mortgage was unchanged at 0.7 point. The fee for a 15-year loan rose to 0.7 point from 0.6 point.
USDA to have chicken-raising webinar
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will conduct a webinar for those beginning to raise backyard chickens or adding new chicks to existing flocks later in the month.
“Spring into Action: Maintaining a Healthy (and Growing) Flock,” will be a one-hour presentation and Twitter chat featuring three poultry experts from 1 to 2 p.m. Feb. 27. It will cover topics including introducing new birds to a flock, buying and raising healthy poultry, and how to keep a flock free from disease and safe from predators.
To register, go to the USDA’s Biosecurity for Birds website and click on the 2014 Bird Health Awareness tab on the right and follow the instructions. To join the Twitter chat, use #Chickenchat2014.
Radio personality Andy Schneider, known as “The Chicken Whisperer,” will be featured in the webinar, along with JoAnna Quinn, a veterinary medical officer, poultry health specialists with the USDA and Dr. Casey Barton Behravesh, a commander in the U.S. Public Health Service at the Centers for Disease Control.
Bank program to benefit Helena area
Southern Bancorp of Arkadelphia is working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to promote economic development in Helena-West Helena.
The bank, which has branches in Helena-West Helena, is beginning the Riverside Renewal Project by matching eligible commercial and residential properties in the city dollar-for-dollar up to a maximum of $100,000 per project. The one-for-one match has a minimum grant of $25,000. The projects must be within a specific area of downtown.
Applications for the match funding should be made by March 31.
For more information on the program, contact Southern-Partners.org/RiversideRenewal or Brooke Gerber at
brooke.gerber@southernpartners.org or (870) 816-1115.
Phillips County had an unemployment rate of 11.6 percent in December.
Verizon names new regional president
Verizon Wireless has named Kristi Crum the new president of its south-central region.
Crum, of Little Rock, will be in charge of strategic development and growth of the region’s business, retail and finance operations, according to the news release. The region includes Arkansas, Oklahoma, northern Mississippi and western Tennessee.
“Verizon continues to develop and expand wireless technologies in Arkansas and nationwide, and our customers will continue to benefit from this innovation,” Crum said in a statement. “Within the last year, we substantially completed the implementation of our 4G LTE network in Arkansas and we will continue to build upon that network. My key focus is to ensure that every customer is provided with the most reliable wireless network, superior products and services backed by a remarkable team of wireless professionals.”
Crum, who has already started in her new post, replaces Dean Taylor, who died in December, said Ginger Daril, spokesman for Verizon. Crum was most recently director of retail sales for the company’s northern California region.
Researcher says OPEC to boost exports
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will increase shipments this month to the highest level since late July to meet final winter demand from Asian refiners, according to Oil Movements.
OPEC, supplier of about 40 percent of the world’s oil, will bolster sailings by 730,000 barrels a day, or 3.1 percent, to 24.2 million barrels a day in the four weeks to Feb. 22, the highest level since July 27, the researcher said Thursday in a report.
That compares with 23.47 million in the period to Jan. 25. The figures exclude two of OPEC’s 12 members, Angola and Ecuador.
Global oil consumption surges during the northern hemisphere winter on demand for heating fuel, then tapers off toward the end of the first quarter as refiners conduct seasonal maintenance. Brent futures traded near $107 a barrel in London today after falling about 8 percent in the past year.
Business, Pages 26 on 02/07/2014