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Agency warns magnetic game has ingestion risks
NEW YORK | The Consumer Product and Safety Commission is warning people to immediately dispose of a magnetic game because it poses serious ingestion risks for children.
The CPSC posted a warning Thursday that “Magnetic Chess Games” sold by China-based seller JOMO contain magnets that do not comply with U.S. federal safety regulations. As a result, the “loose, hazardous magnets pose a risk of serious injury or death,” according to the warning.
The CPSC said it issued a violation notice to JOMO, but that the company has not agreed to recall its Magnetic Chess Games or provide a remedy. The commission urged people to stop using the game and throw it away immediately.
The games were sold online at walmart.com in a blue box with the word “Magnetic” on the front and back, according to the CPSC. They include about 20 loose black magnets but not chess-shaped pieces, despite its marketing.
It’s unclear when or how long these games were sold. A CPSC spokesperson said the commission could not provide further information since JOMO is not cooperating.
A Walmart spokesperson said customers’ health and safety are the company’s top priority and that it began working to remove the games soon after the CPSC warning was issued Thursday.
Experts have long noted the serious health hazards tied to swallowing magnets, with children particularly at risk. When high-powered magnets are ingested, the CPSC noted, they can attract each other or another metal object in the body and become lodged in the digestive system — potentially resulting in blockage, infection, blood poisoning or death.
Overall, the CPSC estimates a total of 2,400 magnet ingestions were treated in hospitals annually between 2017 and 2021. The commission said it is aware of eight related deaths from 2005 through 2021, two of which were outside the U.S.
Fewer Americans file for jobless claims
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week as the U.S. labor market remains healthy in the face of high interest rates.
Jobless claims ticked down by 2,000 to 231,000 for the week of Aug. 24, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s just below the 232,000 new filings analysts were expecting.
The four-week average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week volatility, fell by 4,750 to 231,500.
Weekly filings for unemployment benefits, which are considered a proxy for layoffs, remain low by historic standards. They have ticked up in recent months though.
From January through May, claims averaged a paltry 213,000 a week. But they started rising in May, hitting 250,000 in late July and adding to evidence that high interest rates were finally cooling a red-hot U.S. job market.
Employers added just 114,000 jobs in July, well below the January-June monthly average of nearly 218,000. The unemployment rate rose for the fourth straight month in July, though it remains low at 4.3%.
Last week, the Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year than were originally reported. The revised total supports evidence that the job market has been steadily slowing and likely reinforces the Federal Reserve’s plan to start cutting interest rates soon.
The Fed, in an attempt to stifle inflation that hit a four-decade high just over two years ago, raised its benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023. That pushed it to a 23-year high, where it has stayed for more than a year.
Inflation has retreated steadily, approaching the Fed’s 2% target and leading Fed Chair Jerome Powell to declare last week that it was largely under control. Most economists expect the Fed to begin cutting rates at its next meeting in September.
The total number of Americans collecting jobless benefits rose by 13,000 to 1.87 million for the week of Aug. 17.
Average rate on a 30-year mortgage eases to 6.35%
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage eased for the second week in a row and remains at its lowest level in more than a year, good news for prospective homebuyers facing home prices near all-time highs.
The rate fell to 6.35% from 6.46% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 7.18%.
The last time the average rate was this low was May 11, 2023.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners seeking to refinance their home loan to a lower rate, also eased this week. The average rate fell to 5.51% from 5.62% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.55%, Freddie Mac said.
“Mortgage rates fell again this week due to expectations of a Fed rate cut,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Rates are expected to continue their decline, and while potential homebuyers are watching closely, a rebound in purchase activity remains elusive until we see further declines.”
Signs of waning inflation and a cooling job market have raised expectations the Federal Reserve will cut its benchmark interest rate next month for the first time in four years.
Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including how the bond market reacts to the central bank’s interest rate policy decisions. That can move the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.
The yield, which topped 4.7% in late April, has pulled back sharply since then on expectations the Fed’s next move would be to lower its main interest rate. It was at around 3.9% in afternoon trading in the bond market Thursday.
Traders on Wall Street see a high likelihood the Fed will lower its main interest rate by at least 1 percentage point by the end of the year, according to data from CME Group. That suggests the bond market has already priced in a series of Fed rate cuts this year, which could limit further easing in mortgage rates.
“As such, we shouldn’t expect the downward movement in mortgage rates to accelerate unless worse-than-expected economic indicators suggest the market is headed for anything but a soft landing,” said Ralph McLaughlin, senior economist at Realtor.com.
Most economists expect the average rate on a 30-year home loan to remain above 6% this year. Realtor.com’s latest forecast calls for the average rate to go no lower than 6.3% by the end of the year.
After climbing to a 23-year high of 7.79% in October, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage has hovered around 7% for most of this year. That’s more than double what it was just three years ago.
Elevated mortgage rates, which can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, have kept many would-be homebuyers on the sidelines, extending the nation’s housing slump into its third year.
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes are running below last year’s pace, though they ended a four-month slide in July as homebuyers seized on more attractive mortgage rates.
Still, new data on contract signings for U.S. homes, a bellwether for future home sales, point to potentially further slowing of home sales.
The National Association of Realtor’s pending home sales index fell 5.5% in July from the previous month, the trade group said Thursday. Pending transactions were down 8.5% from the same month last year.
A lag of a month or two usually exists between when a contract is signed and when the home sale is finalized. That suggests a possible pullback in sales of previously occupied U.S. homes for August or September.
—From AP reports
