Low and falling short-term rates have been a bonanza for banks for another reason, too.
With unemployment at a 30-year low, falling union membership and an ageing domestic workforce, the Rudd government can afford to be bold about using immigration as a tool of economic management.
In notable economic news this week, the Labor Department announced that the number of Americans filing initial jobless claims fell to a nearly four-year low, falling 50, 000 to a seasonally adjusted 352, 000.
And a gasoline tax would be regressive, falling disproportionately on low-income people, many of whom rely on their cars to get to work.
With overnight temperatures falling to as low as -3C, ice is likely to be a problem well into Tuesday.
Even a seven-month low for 30-year mortgage loan rates failed to stimulate buyers with the purchase index falling by 1.4%, although some home owners took advantage by refinancing at lower rates.
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Asian stock markets were routed last week, with Hong Kong falling to a three-year low.
This week the stockmarket took another battering, falling to a five-year low.
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With unemployment falling to a five year-low - below four million - and some economists predicting a growth rate of 2.8% this year, the rosy economic outlook is a positive development.
The exuberance of recent months might turn out to be well founded, if the fourth quarter of 2012 turns out to be the low-point of Europe's recession, and falling borrowing costs start to produce a virtuous cycle from higher confidence to improving growth.
It uses four different measures, including deaths after surgery and among those with low-risk conditions, to help assess which hospitals are falling outside of what would be expected.
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With the 20-city composite index falling below its April 2009 low, 12 of the cities surveyed for the index marked new index lows in the current housing cycle.
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After falling to a low of 30% in 2001-02, the debt ratio has risen, but the Treasury thinks it will stay below the 40% limit over the next five years.
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Home builders are continuing to see low levels in orders, due to too-high home inventories and falling prices for those already on the market.
Ms Barker was investigating why the supply of new houses had responded so sluggishly to the house-price boom, with completions actually falling to a low of about 175, 000 in 2001, although they have since staged a recovery (see chart).
The AMAs telecast delivered 9.5 million viewers and a 3.4 rating on ABC, falling 21 percent from 2011 to an all-time low.
Low or falling nominal interest rates and inflation were crucial to reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio.
On the one hand, the OBR admits that its gloomy prognosis of low economic growth and falling living standards in Britain may not be gloomy enough - because that forecast is predicated on an orderly resolution of the eurozone's debt crisis.
Much like the PC market, basic and feature mobile phone volumes are falling as consumers migrate not only to smartphones, but smartphones at low- and mid-tier price points.
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In theory, global trade should cause prices in different countries to converge: the prices of low-cost producers should gradually increase as wages rise (ie, China's falling prices were a temporary anomaly), while the prices of high-cost producers should fall.
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It follows claims that low-flying jets on a training exercise recently led to mass panic, with kittiwake chicks falling into the sea and drowning.
Although bond defaults are falling, this is largely because the economy is benign and interest rates ultra-low.
Falling unemployment, rising consumer confidence, an improving housing market and wider availability of low-interest credit convinced consumers they were safe to make the big-ticket purchase of a car.
The minister added that extra funding and support was being targeted at schools with low results, while more one-to-one and small group tuition would help children "at risk of falling behind".
Ebb-tide: the falling tide, part of the tidal cycle between high water and the next low water.
The dollar has been falling for weeks against major currencies, reaching record lows against the euro, a three-year low against the Japanese yen and a seven-year low against the Australian dollar.
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