SAN ANSELMO, Calif. – For the first time since records have been kept, the national average rate on the five-year certificate of deposit has dipped below 1%, hitting 0.99% in the latest survey by Market Rates Insight.
“The five-year CD, which has always been the hallmark of high returns and stable annuities, has never dipped below 1% for as long as interest rate records are available,” said the company.
In the last decade, the five-year CD reached its peak in August 2000, when the national average rate for stood at 6.25%. The highest the five-year CD rate has ever been was in June 1981, when rates for this CD were over 20%.
The five-year CD is hardly alone in hitting new lows. The four-year CD has reached a record low of 0.78%, this week, and the three-year CD now stands at 0.63%.
According to Market Rates Insight, the national average rate for all CD terms, from three months to five years, also reached a record low this week and now stands at 0.46%.
