On Thursday the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found that American households have now reclaimed 62 percent of the personal wealth they’d lost during the recession. It appears the recovery from the recession is accelerating, as the end of 2012 had shown a 45 percent recovery. However, much of the rebound in national net
Read »In May, the U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment rose in the following sectors: professional and business services, food services and drinking places, and retail trade. However, the unemployment rate rose from 7.5 percent in April to 7.6 percent in May. The increase in
Read »The National Fair Housing Alliance announced Thursday that Wells Fargo will spend at least $42 million in a settlement to stop allegations that the bank neglected to maintain and market foreclosed homes in black and Latino neighborhoods. The settlement, reached Wednesday, resolves a Department of Housing and Urban Development complaint filed in April 2012 by
Read »BB&T joined the group of big banks that have introduced simplified fee disclosure forms for its personal and business accounts. The two-page long “At A Glance” statements lay out the more pertinent fees and policies that apply to any particular BB&T account. The fee disclosures adopt a layout introduced by The Pew Charitable Trusts. “‘At
Read »FINRA, the Financial Industrial Regulatory Authority, the biggest independent securities regulatory firm, has fined the brokerage sectors of Wells Fargo and Bank of America for $2.15 million for the alleged sale of floating-rate bank loan funds that contended with the risk options of its clients. Additionally, FINRA has fined both banks to pay over $3
Read »Senate Democrats and Republicans are pushing for different versions of legislation that would make interest rates low for some college students – at least for a few years. On Thursday, Senate Democrats began advocating legislation that would keep interest rates at 3.4 percent for new subsidized Stafford loans over the next two years as they
Read »Starting June 25, TD Bank customers with the TD Simple Checking account will face higher costs. The bank is increasing the account’s monthly service from $3.99 to $5.99 (the monthly fee is subject to a $1 discount for customers who sign up for electronic statements), according to an updated fee schedule. In a year, that’s
Read »The ADP report showed an estimated 135,000 jobs added in May, although they had predicted 165,000. Service and construction sectors continued their growth, adding the majority of the jobs while the manufacturing and goods-producing sectors slowed. Recent numbers have showed progress but this latest showing raises red flags going into the summer slowdown. Read the
Read »The Recession ended four years ago. Has the U.S. found its footing yet? Since the stock market plummeted back in 2007, the S&P 500, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average have made historical highs. The unemployment rate remains stagnant but has recovered over 70% of the 8.8 million jobs it lost. The median U.S. home
Read »Pew Charitable Trust’s review of checking account disclosures found that Ally Bank, Bank of America, First Republic Bank, and Citibank were among the highest rated when it came to checking account disclosures to their customers. Union Bank and Sovereign Bank were among the lowest rated. No bank scored perfectly in every category, leaving room for
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