Rates on Longer-Term CDs Rise
CDs with at least a one-year term continued to post higher interest rates on Wednesday as rates on other products like savings, checking and money-market accounts declined further or remained flat.
Two-year CDs showed the biggest gains, rising to 2.42% from 2.35% a week earlier. One-year CDs rose slightly to 2.22% from 2.21%. CDs with the shortest term of three months dropped to 1.69% from 1.7%.
While even five-year CDs still have returns below inflation -- 3.13% across the U.S., on average, according to
, compared with an inflation rate near 4% -- they are still faring much better than the meager rates for other products. The average return on money-market accounts fell slightly to 0.88% from 0.89% as savings rates dropped to 0.42% from 0.43%. Interest checking accounts, which have the lowest rate of return, remained flat at 0.25%.
Here are states with the biggest increase in one-year CD rates from a week ago. States in the West and Southeast saw the largest increases overall, while Southeast and Central states have the highest returns. Keep in mind that credit unions and local banks often have better rates than major banks, so check close to home for the best returns.
Biggest change
:
Washington
: 2.13%, up from 1.99%.
Illinois
: 2.27%, up from 2.14%.
California
: 1.95%, up from 1.83%.
Oregon
: 2.04%, up from 1.94%.
Florida
: 2.26%, up from 2.17%.
Top rates
:
Hawaii
: 3.04%, unchanged from a week earlier.
Kansas
: 2.45%, down from 2.46%.
Alabama
: 2.43%, unchanged.
Massachusetts
: 2.4%, unchanged.
Georgia
: 2.38%, up from 2.34%.