Out of service: The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development announced Thursday that the second Plaquemine ferry will be out of service for approximately two months beginning today. The closure is due in part to staffing issues in Plaquemine, as well as the outage of the Cameron ferry in southwest Louisiana. WBRZ-TV has the full story.
Financing: U.S. long-term mortgage rates were unchanged this week, remaining at record low levels against the backdrop of an economy punished by the pandemic. Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate home loan remained at 2.71% from last week. By contrast, the benchmark rate stood at 3.73% a year ago. The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate loans stayed at 2.26%. Read the full report.
Inflation: U.S. wholesale prices edged up just 0.1% in November with the economic disruption from the pandemic continuing to suppress demand and keeping inflation at extremely low levels. The increase in the producer price index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, followed bigger gains of 0.3% in October and 0.4% in September, the Labor Department reported this morning. But even with those gains, wholesale prices are up just 0.8% from a year ago, far below the Federal Reserve’s target for annual price increases of 2%. See the full report.
