Doug Barrett | Nov 9, 2019 AT 4:07 pm
American workers were less efficient in the July-September quarter, pushing down productivity for the first time since late 2015. The Labor Department said Wednesday that productivity, a measure of economic output for each hour worked, fell 0.3% in the third quarter. The drop comes after two quarters of healthy gains.
Mortgage rates slipped this week from the highest level since July and remain at historically low levels that are helping would-be purchasers to buy homes. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage declined to 3.69% from 3.78% last week.
Grand Forks sales tax collections topped $2.42 million dollars in October. Year-to-date sales tax collections are up 4.65% over last year. The local tax has generated $20,835,633 dollars so far in 2019. The October payment was the second highest monthly tally this year.
Airbnb says it will spend the next year verifying all 7 million of its listings as it works to improve user trust….
