According to the Labor Department the US economy added 678,000 jobs and the unemployment rate was 3.8% in February. In a sign that inflation could be cooling, wages barely rose for the month, up just 1 cent an hour. For the labor market broadly, the report brought the level of employed Americans closer to pre-pandemic levels, though still short by 1.1 million jobs.

Mortgage rates are sinking, and that means home prices are likely to continue surging.  The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage had risen close to a full percentage point from the start of this year up until last Friday, when it hit 4.18%. It then fell to 3.9%. That is the largest two-day drop since March 2020, the start of the pandemic.  This will give homebuyers more purchasing power as the historically busy spring season kicks off. It will also keep record high home prices continuing on their run higher. Prices in January were 19.1% higher year over year. That level of growth is the highest in 45 years.

Russia’s top billionaires have lost more than $80 billion in wealth in recent weeks, with more to come as sanctions and seizures start to bite.  The economic turmoil surrounding President Putin has erased about a third of the wealth of Russia’s 20 richest billionaires in recent weeks, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The impact of sanctions on oligarchs, along with the collapse of the Russian ruble and economy and global outrage over Ukraine, have swiftly brought the end of an era for an entire class of Russian elites around the world.  Russian megayachts and mansions have already been