Idaho’s 15% median household income growth highest in nation

State also ranks fourth for housing unit growth

Idaho led the nation for median household income growth at a rate of 15%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018-2022 American Community Survey.

OPINION: End of year roundup

2023 will go down in real estate history as the Year of Reckoning. Sales of single-family homes dipped to 25-year lows. Mortgage rates hit the highest levels in 25 years. There were fewer buyers and fewer sellers as each group sat on the sidelines waiting for some clear direction. The homes that were actually listed were no bargain, as prices stayed stubbornly stuck, and the affordability gap widened. A class action lawsuit was successful in challenging the commission-based business model of conventional real estate brokerages, which will have significant repercussions going forward for how sellers and buyers are represented. Commercial office buildings remained half-full as the work-from-home revolution continued even after the pandemic quarantine that spawned it in the first place. Downtowns that were feeding off the daily influx of office workers became ghost towns. There really wasn’t much good news in any sector of the real estate economy.

Banks, communications stocks lead small gains on Wall Street

Major U.S. stock indexes edged higher in afternoon trading Friday as solid earnings from banks helped extend momentum from the previous day's rally.

Speculation grows about Pennsylvania House speaker's future

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai, the most prominent fiscal and social conservative in state government, will hold a news conference Thursday amid speculation in the Capitol this week that he will leave the powerful office after five years.

Guatemala swears in conservative Giammattei as president

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala swore in Alejandro Giammattei, a conservative physician opposed to gay marriage and abortion, as its new president Tuesday while the country's outgoing leader exited amid swirling corruption accusations.

Inslee makes case for voters to preserve Climate Commitment Act

(The Center Square) – At a Monday morning press conference regarding the results of the state’s Climate Commitment Act, Gov. Jay Inslee sought to make a thinly veiled case for why voters should reject an initiative on the November ballot that would repeal the revenue-generating program.

Don’t leave critical revenue in the ground

Montanans have been through a lot over the past year and a half.

Retail sales fall 0.5% in February, biggest drop since 2018

WASHINGTON (AP) — Retail sales fell 0.5% in February, the largest drop in more than a year, indicating that the consumer sector was slowing even before the coronavirus struck with force in the United States. Economists said they were looking for even weaker numbers in coming months.

Europe's central bank launches new program to calm markets

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank is launching a new, expanded program to buy financial assets in a bid to calm markets as monetary authorities struggle to counter the devastation the virus outbreak is wreaking on the global economy.

Europe's central bank launches new program to calm markets

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank is launching a new, expanded program to buy financial assets in a bid to calm markets as monetary authorities struggle to counter the devastation the virus outbreak is wreaking on the global economy.

Retail sales fall 0.5% in February, biggest drop since 2018

WASHINGTON (AP) — Retail sales fell 0.5% in February, the largest drop in more than a year, indicating that the consumer sector was slowing even before the coronavirus struck with force in the United States. Economists said they were looking for even weaker numbers in coming months.

New coronavirus threatens both rich, poor across Mideast

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The new coronavirus continued its spread across some of the most-vulnerable nations of the Mideast on Tuesday as the International Monetary Fund warned that a lack of medical supplies in Iraq, Sudan and Yemen could lead to a surge in prices.

Banks handling a rush of emergency coronavirus loans

Local businesses and nonprofits are taking advantage of a federal loan program designed to keep them running during the coronavirus pandemic.

Stocks open higher on Wall Street at the end of a bumpy week

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street, but not enough to erase the market’s losses for the week. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% in early trading Friday. Investors were encouraged to see the latest coronavirus relief package pass the House. The bill, which President Donald Trump is expected to sign later Friday, provides $484 billion to employers and hospitals. The pandemic has already claimed almost 50,000 American lives and 1 in 6 U.S. jobs. The price of oil rose again after cratering earlier this week, but it’s still not nearly high enough to bring relief to the battered U.S. energy sector.

Initial virus fallout sends Pennsylvania jobless rate to 6%

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's unemployment rate zoomed upward in March to its highest point since 2014 as the effects of Gov. Tom Wolf's coronavirus-related business shutdown and stay-at-home orders began to be felt, according to figures released Friday.

Syrian president doubles public sector wages as national currency spirals downwards

President Bashar Assad issued the two decrees just before midnight Tuesday as the Syrian pound's value against the U.S. dollar declined to a new all-time low, down from 7,000 at the beginning of 2023 to 15,000 pounds to the greenback.

Nasset steps down from top police post

The leader of the Kalispell police force for more than a decade is stepping down.

Consider the injustice of forced union dues

As you shop for back-to-school supplies for your kids or food for the Labor Day cookout, consider this: the clerks, shelf stockers, truck drivers and factory workers who make that possible can all be legally forced to pay money to a union or else be fired.

Where is Gov. Bullock on energy?

Why has Montana Gov. Steve Bullock gone mute on the important issues facing Montana’s energy economy? Energy jobs are critically important to the economic well being of all parts of the state, east and west, and are a vital pillar to our tax base. Our vast energy resources hold the potential for an economic boost in our state that no other sector can currently replicate.

Us and them

It's election time, and once again I find myself interviewing one candidate after another. One thing that stands out, after dredging through my notes for past and present candidates, is how issues can be portrayed in terms of "us versus them" — and I don't mean Republicans versus the Democrats.