Why is purchasing a home so difficult? The salaries of the middle class have not kept up with prices. For the first time since 2002, mortgage rates are higher than 7%. Also, three out of ten houses are sold for more than their listing price. However, none of those elements really reflects the range of difficulties that consumers across the country encounter in the present marketplace. On the ground, situations might differ significantly between states and even counties. We are launching a new monthly indicator, the NBC News Home Buyer Index, to more accurately and closely reflect changes in the local housing market. The Home Buyer Index is a score on a range of 0 to 100 that indicates the difficulties a prospective buyer encounters while attempting to purchase a home. It was created by NBC...

The suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione, was flown from Pennsylvania to New York Thursday afternoon to face federal charges after he renounced his right to an extradition hearing. Mangione, 26, was arrested by the New York City Police Department after appearing Thursday morning in Blair County, Pennsylvania, for a preliminary hearing and waiving extradition. New federal accusations against the suspect were also unveiled on Thursday, including two counts of stalking, murder by firearm, and firearms offense. A neat cut Mangione wore a white shirt underneath a black V-neck and beige trousers when she appeared in federal court in lower Manhattan on Thursday afternoon. Mangione picked up the charging sheet and seemed to read it attentively before the hea...

The definition of a small business is not clear-cut: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) primarily assesses them using financial data, such as total sales and income, and size, which refers to the number of employees. However, specific standards differ by industry, so determining if a business is small is a case of seeing it when you see it. Supporting them during the holidays is also essential since, according to the SBA, most small businesses depend on holiday sales for at least 25% of their yearly income. For years, I have covered small businesses for local publications around the nation as well as NBC Select. If you're considering buying this season, I've compiled a list of some of our NBC Select employees' favorites along with others that have interesting products you should ...

Millions of government workers would not be paid if the federal government shuts down this weekend, and activity at many agencies that need federal funding will either slow down or cease completely. However, Social Security payments would continue to be made. The shorter-term continuing-resolution measures that have kept the government running in recent years amid political stalemate in Washington do not pay Social Security, which is regarded as a necessary program. Social Security benefits are paid to over 72.8 million people each month. Retirees receive the majority of such payments, but disabled individuals and the dependents of dead pensioners also receive them. Benefit checks will continue to be sent, but if SSA staff start to be furloughed, those who need to get in touch with the age...

After a plan to find a buyer fell through, troubled discount furniture and home decor company Big Lots will start going-out-of-business sales at its remaining sites. Big Lots stated in a release on Thursday that it no longer expects to be able to finalize a previously disclosed deal with a private equity firm to save the business. Nonetheless, it stated that it is still working to finalize a different deal with that group, Nexus Capital Management, a company based in Los Angeles, or another partner. After experiencing ongoing losses, Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring in September. This year, hundreds of shop closures have been announced by the Columbus, Ohio-based company. According to data from Coresight Research, a consumer insights group, the retail industry suffere...

An NBC News analysis of historical polling data reveals that lawmakers have not suffered a significant political cost in previous government shutdowns, despite Republican leaders on Capitol Hill rushing to salvage a government funding deal after President-elect Donald Trump helped sabotage an early accord. As Trump and his supporters, notably billionaire Elon Musk, urged Republicans to back out of a bipartisan financing agreement that was announced this week, some shutdown advocates have been bringing up this argument. Republicans and President Trump shouldn't fear a government shutdown. According to a post on X by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the next election is in two years. We won the first reelected House GOP majority since 1928 and had two shutdowns in 1995. In reference to S...

In a recent letter to government organizations examined by CNBC, lawmakers claim that millions of consumer credit reporting mistakes resulted from a flawed transfer of student loan accounts from Nelnet to Mohelain in 2023. According to the letter, hundreds of thousands of borrowers' credit scores were reported inaccurately for up to a year and a half, and over 2 million duplicate student loan records appeared on customers' credit reports as a result of the loan servicer modification. The letter was written Wednesday evening to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra by Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and other senators. The lawmakers contacted Nelnet, Mohela, and three credit reporting agen...

WASHINGTON—According to people familiar with the talks, White House officials are closely coordinating their strategy with Democratic leaders in Congress, including Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer, as Democrats seek to draw attention to the negative economic effects of a holiday shutdown and the obstruction of disaster relief. Biden has refrained from discussing the impending shutdown in public. White House officials now think that House Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump should handle this issue because Trump urged his party to sabotage a bipartisan agreement that had already been negotiated. The White House has mostly kept quiet, even though it will eventually have to sign any bill that passes. Republicans cited Biden when asked if Trump was responsible for the deal...

The trendiest stores used to be found in malls. The trendiest eateries are now located there. Shopping malls in the United States have suffered, especially in the past ten years, from the gradual demise of department stores and the growth of internet shopping. According to Coresight Research, the number of the once-essential retail complexes has decreased from a peak of 2,500 in the 1980s to about 700 now. However, a lot of people in the retail sector now believe that the predictions of the mall's doom were overblown. Many Gen Z customers adore the mall experience and prefer to purchase in person. Developers' innovative ideas have transformed vacant department shops into homes, bringing customers even closer to the establishments. Additionally, since restaurants and bars have grown in popu...