THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)

Mortgage apps up on refinancing

The Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications shot up 16.6% to 2,253.9 in the week ended Jan. 28, reversing a 5.7% drop the prior week. The overall application index rose 7.3%. Still, such weekly data are volatile. Economists said the gain won't reverse slower mortgage activity spurred by still-rising Federal Reserve interest rates.

** Mortgage rates were unchanged Wednesday after the Fed raised the fed funds target rate by a quarter point to 2.25%, as expected. The 30-year rate was steady at 5.625%, BestInfo reported.

** U.S. employee confidence jumped in Jan., a Hudson Highland Group survey showed. Its confidence index rose nearly 3 points to 106.2 vs. Dec., though only a third of respondents said their companies were actually hiring.

G7 won't press China on currency

The Group of Seven has talked with China over pegging the yuan to a basket of currencies rather than the dollar alone for years, Italy's finance minister said. But the official line calling ...