Personal finance weekly news roundup December 7, 2024

Credit Sesame’s personal finance news roundup December 7, 2024. Stories, news, politics and events impacting personal finance during the past week.

TransUnion reports that 4.6% of global online shopping transactions from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday this year were suspected to be fraudulent. There is some good news, though. The proportion of suspected fraudulent transactions globally was down by 6% from last year. Suspected fraud is more common before the holiday shopping season kicks off. Some 7.5% of global e-commerce transactions in 2024 before Thanksgiving were suspected to be fraudulent. Similar trends were seen in the US, though the numbers were generally lower. 4.2% of e-commerce transactions from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday were suspected to be fraudulent, down by 5.8% from last year. Before Thanksgiving, 7.1% of US e-commerce transactions were suspected of fraud. See details at TransUnion.com.

Five cybersecurity predictions for 2025

Experian’s Data Breach Industry Forecast includes five predictions for the coming year. These predictions highlight threats that consumers and businesses must protect against in 2025. The five predictions are: 1) teens and young adults will increasingly become major perpetrators of online fraud; 2) internal cyber fraud by employees will continue to grow; 3) electrical power will increasingly become a target of attacks, as the growing use of artificial intelligence requires more energy; 4) predators will eat their own, as more and more hackers choose other hackers as their targets; 5) more sophisticated identification methods will come into use, as standard encryption becomes obsolete. See news release at ExperianPLC.com.

Job creation surged in November 2024

The monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that 227,000 new jobs were created in November 2024. That’s up significantly from the 36,000 new jobs in October 2024, surpassing the 12-month average of 186,000. In addition, previous employment estimates for September and October increased by a combined total of 56,000. The strength of this month’s job report is likely to fuel speculation over whether the Fed will pause its planned rate cut when it meets later this month. The Fed’s previous economic forecast showed that it is expected to lower the Fed funds rate by an additional 0.25% by the end of the year. However, the strength of the job market and recent concerns about the persistence of inflation may mean the Fed can afford to slow its rate-cutting. See details at BLS.gov.

2025 Black Friday sales up from 2024

Mastercard reported that US non-automotive Black Friday retail sales were up by 3.4% over last year. Considering the 2.6% inflation rate for the past year, this means that sales volume was up by only 0.8%. Online sales showed much more substantial growth than in-person sales. Online sales were up by 14.6% over last year’s Black Friday, while in-store sales were up by just 0.7%. Jewelry, electronics, and apparel were identified as the leading holiday shopping sectors. See news release at Mastercard.com.

Net job openings remained steady in October 2024

The latest Job Opening and Labor Turnover survey showed that total job openings in the US remained essentially unchanged in October. There were 7.7 million job openings as of the last business day of the month. There was also a balance between new hires and people leaving their jobs during October, with 5.3 million people in each category. The total number of job openings still exceeds the number of people looking for work, but the gap has been closing. There are now 7 million job seekers and 7.7 million job openings. See report at BLS.gov.

Mortgage rates drop for second week in a row

30-year mortgage rates dropped by 0.12% last week to reach 6.69%. This is the first substantial drop in rates in more than two months. It breaks 30-year rates out of the narrow range they had fluctuated in during November. 15-year rates also dropped significantly last week, falling by 0.14% to 5.96%. Even so, 30-year rates are still 0.61% above where they were at the end of September. 15-year rates are 0.80% higher than at the end of September 2024. See rate details at FreddieMac.com.

The CFPB helps customers reclaim $1.8 billion

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is to distribute $1.8 billion of improperly charged fees to 4.3 million customers of two credit repair schemes. The reclaimed fees result from the CFPB’s legal action against Lexington Law and CreditRepair.com. They represent the largest ever distribution from the CFPB’s victim’s relief fund, which consists of receipts of civil penalties paid by companies that violate consumer protection laws. See news release at ConsumerFinance.gov.