Those new jumbo-conforming mortgages, created by Congress to make homes in high-priced areas more affordable, are finally getting cheaper.

The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point today, the seventh cut in as many months, continuing its efforts to guard the economy against a steep downturn.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve lowered U.S. interest rates by a modest quarter percentage point on Wednesday and hinted the move could be the last in a series meant to buffer the economy from a credit crunch and housing downturn.

California employers kept payrolls flat and the state's unemployment rate jumped half a percentage point in March as a slowing economy curtailed employment in a broad range of industries. Total jobs outside the farm sector increased by 1,000 in March, while...

David Berson anticipates the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a half-percentage point Tuesday, or possibly more. And Fed officials will continue slicing in 2008 as central bankers combat a recession that appears to have started and is likely to end later this year.

David Berson anticipates the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a half-percentage point Tuesday, or possibly more. And Fed officials will continue slicing in 2008 as central bankers combat a recession that appears to have started and is likely to end later this year.

The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate by half a percentage point today, the second rate cut in nine days, in an aggressive move to try to prevent a recession.

The Federal Reserve slashed a key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point yesterday, a bold action designed to prevent steep losses in world stock markets from causing an all-out panic.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three regional Federal Reserve banks wanted a deeper half-percentage-point cut in the discount rate ahead of December's Fed policy meeting, minutes of the Fed Board's discount rate meetings showed on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates on Tuesday by at least a quarter-percentage point to fortify the economy against a credit crunch and housing slump that some economists fear could bring a recession.