US Stocks ended the month of February lower as investors worry about rising interest rates and the effect they will have on high flying tech stocks. The tech heavy NASDAQ suffered its worst week since October last week.

Americans increased spending in January for the first time in three months after the government sent $600 stimulus checks to families and boosted unemployment benefits as part of an effort to shore up the economy. Consumer spending jumped 2.4% last month, marking the biggest increase since last June.

Central Oregon’s economy appeared resilient in the fourth quarter of 2020, despite a pandemic that required businesses to shutter temporarily, according to the quarterly Central Oregon Business Index from Tim Duy at the University of Oregon. The index was 136.7 in the fourth quarter of 2020, creeping up slightly from the third quarter, Duy said. Jobs losses continued to drag on the economy, especially in the fourth quarter when Gov. Kate Brown closed restaurant businesses and limited the number of people who could gather, Duy said. But housing and lodging taxes were bright signposts indicating a full economic recovery could be ahead.