 | ||
 |
||
Relief for Long Term Unemployed; Another Boost for Homebuyers
by Jon Greenberg on
Tags:
With hundreds of thousands of jobless people about to run out of all benefits, congress has moved to extend unemployment benefits by 14 weeks nationwide for those whose relief has run out, and up to 20 weeks in states — 26 currently — where the unemployment rate is over 8.5 percent.
For the moment, the extra 14 weeks is the number that applies in NH.
The legislation also continues the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers for another five months. It creates a new $6,500 tax credit for certain homeowners who want to buy another home.
It has something for businesses too. The stimulus act gave small businesses the chance to deduct losses from their income in five profitable years rather than two. This bill extends that tax break to most businesses.
Working It Out is
a collaboration with
with support from
Briefing Room
Declining home prices continue to help residential sales in New Hampshire. Prices are down about 11 percent and sales for the year are a hair above what they were in 2008.
Real estate agents are pleased with the October numbers. After a grim period stretching from last fall to early spring, there’s been a consistent if modest upward trend. The number of homes sold last month rose compared to this September and compared to October a year ago. The data come from the New Hampshire Association of Realtors.
The state unemployment rate fell 4-tenths of a percent in October.
Unemployment dropped to 6.8 percent. The decline caught most analysts by surprise. Usually, when the national rate rises, as it did, so does the state’s.
Economist Annette Nielsen with the labor market information bureau says the job growth is real. The rate is not due to lots of people dropping out of the labor force. But Nielsen takes a cautious view.
Nielsen: "I would like to see a couple of months before I would definitely say this is what’s going on."
Weekly Wrap-Up
Support from
