Monday’s business headlines
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Here’s a look at Monday’s business headlines with Jane King.
First annual decline in home prices in 10+ years
The U.S. housing market posted the first year-over-year decline in home prices since 2012 as a result of higher mortgage rates.
Real estate brokerage firm Redfin showed that the median U.S. home sale price fell 1.2% in February from the previous year.
EVs more expensive to fuel than gas in late 2022
An increase in electricity costs made electric vehicles more expensive to fuel than gas-powered vehicles during the final quarter of 2022, according to an Anderson Economic Group study.
In the final months of 2022, drivers paid about $11.29 to fuel their gas-powered vehicles for 100 miles of driving.
That cost was roughly 31 cents cheaper than the amount paid by mid-priced EV drivers who mainly charge at home.
AT&T and Verizon scaling back high-speed internet rollout plans
AT&T and Verizon are trimming their spending plans for network expansion.
Both companies say the end of low interest rates and slumping demand are reasons for the cutbacks.
Bloomberg reports Verizon expects to extend fiber past about 50,000 fewer homes this year than it did in 2022, while AT&T has slashed the number of homes it plans to reach by 39% in 2023.
Undergrad college enrollment dropped 8% from 2019 to 2022
Nationwide, undergraduate college enrollment dropped 8% from 2019 to 2022, with declines even after students returned to in-person classes, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse.
The slide in the college-going rate since 2018 is the steepest on record, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Fewer college graduates could worsen labor shortages in fields from health care to information technology, say researchers at Georgetown University’s Center on Education and Workforce.
Study: Jobs with little human interaction are the most miserable
The unhappiest jobs are also some of the loneliest, according to an 85-year study from Harvard University.
Jobs that require little human interaction and don’t offer opportunities to build meaningful relationships with co-workers tend to have the most miserable employees, researchers say.
Some of the most isolating jobs involve more independent work than interpersonal relationships or require overnight shifts, such as truck driving and night security.