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By Kristin Myers, Editor-in-Chief

What's Happening Today

Happy Friday! It's Kristin with your daily morning digest.

Stocks are mixed as new legislation banning Russian oil and gas imports heads to President Joe Biden's desk for signature, and more comments from Federal Reserve policymakers call for higher interest rate hikes to tackle rising inflation.

At a presentation yesterday, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard suggested the Fed was "behind the curve" on raising rates to fight inflation. Bullard called for the central bank to raise its target federal funds rate by 3 percentage points by the end of this year, which would make loans like mortgages more expensive for borrowers. Underscoring how quickly things are changing in the residential real estate market, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage jumped to 5.87% from 5.41% overnight yesterday in the biggest spike for any single day in the year The Balance has been collecting the data.

Meanwhile, workers fighting against vaccine mandates lost their battle as a federal appeals court upheld President Biden's mandate that all federal workers be vaccinated against COVID-19. The mandate does allow workers to appeal for exemptions because of medical and religious reasons. Both private sector and federal workers around the country have filed lawsuits to prevent vaccine mandates from taking place.

And thanks to all who tuned in to our first Instagram Live yesterday for Financial Literacy Month! In case you missed our conversation with podcast host, author, and financial influencer Berna Anat, you can watch the recording here.

- Kristin

Editors' Picks

Economists Boost Inflation Expectations in Worrying Sign for Fed (Bloomberg)

Biden Plan to Combat Inflation with U.S. Manufacturing Faces Skepticism (The Wall Street Journal)

Protections on Payday Loans Fall Short, Watchdog Says (The Balance)

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Biden Vaccine Mandate for Federal Workers (The Hill)

Can You Trade Options in a Roth IRA? (The Balance)

Mortgage Rates by Credit Score (The Balance)

Does Insurance Cover Chiropractors? (The Balance)

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Off the Charts

Consumers racked up more debt in February than in any month since 2010. The increase in revolving debt (largely credit cards) was particularly big, bringing those outstanding balances closer to pre-pandemic levels.

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Number of the Day

$83 - That's how much the typical monthly payment on a new mortgage increased in just one day as the average 30-year interest rate spiked by almost half a percentage point.