CFPB: New Information Will Help U.S. Improve Financial Literacy
New information released today shows how well American teens understand financial concepts and can apply them to their own situations. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published results of the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) financial literacy assessment. This new information will help us develop targeted programs and initiatives to ensure…
HUD: New Residential Sales for April 2017 Report
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 April 2017: NEW HOME SALES Sales of new single-family houses in April 2017 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 569,000, according to estimates released jointly today by…
Federal Reserve: Board Issues Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households
Americans’ overall financial well-being in 2016 continued on a modest upward path, although the improvement was less pronounced for those with less education, according to the Federal Reserve Board’s latest Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households. The report, based on the Board’s fourth annual Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking conducted in October…
FHFA: Refinance Volume Continued to Slow in First Quarter
Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today reported that just over 510,000 refinances were completed in the first quarter of 2017, compared to more than 750,767 in the fourth quarter of 2016. FHFA’s first quarter Refinance Report also shows that 3 percent or 13,425 of the mortgages refinanced from January through March were…
CFPB: Report Finds That 9 in 10 of the Highest-Risk Student Loan Borrowers Were Not Enrolled in Affordable Repayment Plans
Nearly Half of the Highest-Risk Borrowers Not Enrolled in an Affordable Repayment Plan Redefault WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released an analysis of a student loan industry data sample showing that 9 in 10 of the highest-risk borrowers were not enrolled in federal affordable repayment plans. The analysis looks at hundreds…
Federal Reserve: Are Central Cities Poor and Non-White?
By: Jenny Schuetz, Arturo Gonzalez, Jeff Larrimore, Ellen A. Merry, and Barbara J. Robles1 In the U.S., geography has long been viewed as a proxy for income and race. The terms central city or “inner city” are often used as a short-hand for poor and minority neighborhoods, particularly African-American, while suburban dwellers are assumed to be…
CFPB: New Data Documents a Disturbing Cycle of Defaults for Struggling Student Loan Borrowers
New data shows a staggering number of struggling student loan borrowers are trapped in a cycle of default. Last year, nearly 1.2 million borrowers defaulted on a Federal Direct Loan—more than two borrowers every minute. In total, more than 8 million borrowers in the U.S. are in default on a student loan. A default can…
CFPB: Request for Information on Small Business Lending
We have issued a Request for Information on the small business lending marketplace. We aim to learn more about how small businesses engage with financial institutions, with a particular focus on women-owned and minority-owned small businesses. Your responses will enhance our current expertise of the small business lending space, and help us as we work…
CFPB: Exploring Ways to Assess the Availability of Credit for Small Business
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today launched an inquiry into ways to gather and use new and existing information to identify the financing needs of small businesses, especially those owned by women and minorities. Small businesses typically need access to credit to take advantage of growth opportunities, yet public information on this…
SBA: Critical Data and Best Practices Report Released in Evaluating Federal Business Assistance Program
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Small Business Administration, on behalf of the Evaluating Business Technical Assistance Program working group, today released a report on “Building Smarter Data for Evaluating Business Assistance Programs – A Guide for Practitioners”. The report is authored by program practitioners, economists, statisticians, and evaluation and policy…