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October 20, 2011

Nine Essential Takeaways From The Fed’s Report On Foreclosure Prevention

Periodically, StateImpact New Hampshire likes to check in with the Boston Fed to find out what forces analysts think are shaping the New England and national economies. And we stumbled onto this deceptively dry-titled little gem of a report by Robert Clifford: “State Foreclosure Prevention Efforts in New England: Mediation and Assistance.” In his report, […]

October 19, 2011

New Hampshire Ranks 46th In Nation For Student Loan Defaults

Despite recent legislative budget cuts that have forced the state university system to ratchet up tuition–and student debt load–New Hampshire residents are actually pretty good at paying off their government loans. That’s according to US Department of Education numbers collected by USA Today. The feds report only 5.07 percent of Granite Staters failed to pay […]

September 23, 2011

Is New Hampshire a Rich State?

The new US Census data released this week shows that New Hampshire’s median household income is among the highest in the country. In fact, we’re one of only eight states where household income is above the national average. Median income in New Hampshire is $61,042. That may seem like good money, but a closer look reveals that New […]

August 23, 2011

S&P Chief Stepping Down

Recently, State Impact reported on how the S&P downgrade and other economic convulsions have affected, or could affect, the New Hampshire economy. And speaking of S&P, the Associated Press reports: “The president of Standard & Poor’s [Deven Sharma] is stepping down, an announcement coming only weeks after the rating agency’s unprecedented move to strip the […]

August 19, 2011

Will Bank Of America Job Cuts Reach New England? Maybe.

Reporting on the big business news of the day–Bank of America cutting 3,500 jobs–Todd Wallack of the Boston Globe digs into possible regional fallout: “Bank of America declined to comment on the prospect of further job reductions or say how many of the job cuts will occur in New England. But Massachusetts will likely be affected because […]

World Markets Still Jumpy

It’s been yet another rough day for world markets. As AP Business Writer Colleen Barry reports, investors remain jittery about a possible double-dip recession in the US, and the on-going debt crisis in Europe. A good way to begin analyzing today’s market jumpiness is to start with Barry’s roundup of what global investors have been up to:

August 16, 2011

Audio: How the Big Economic Picture Affects the Granite State

NHPR’s All Things Considered Host Brady Carlson recently interviewed me about the latest big StateImpact piece. Check out the audio:

Credit Card Delinquency And Paying Down Personal Debt

Here’s an interesting piece from AP Business Writer Eileen AJ Connelly, focusing on credit card delinquency and debt: “The national credit card delinquency rate, or rate of payments 90 days or more past due, fell to 0.60 percent in the second quarter, down from 0.92 percent a year ago. That’s the lowest rate since 1994, […]

August 15, 2011

Homebuilder Confidence Remains Lackluster

More of the same…for two years running now. That’s the upshot of a story by AP writer Derek Kravitz analyzing the latest numbers from the National Association of Homebuilders. “The National Association of Home Builders said Monday that its index of builder sentiment in August was unchanged at 15. The index has been below 20 for […]

August 12, 2011

How Stock Market Jitters, Treasury Bonds, And Fed Interest Rates Affect The State’s Economy

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks, with financial tremors continuing to shake-up the jagged economic landscape. National GDP barely went up, Congress made an 11th hour deal to raise the debt ceiling, S&P downgraded the US credit rating anyway, and the Federal Reserve decided to hold interest rates steady—at virtually nothing—for the next two […]