Average federal tax refund so far: $3,539

And it has issued refunds averaging $3,539 to nearly 7.6 million filers through January 30.

Refunds tend to be bigger early in the tax season, since those expecting a lot of money back are most likely to file first.

Over the course of the next few months, nearly 8 out of 10 filers will get a refund.

Normally, the IRS cuts its refund checks pretty quickly. But this year, because of budget cuts, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has warned that there could be a delay in issuing some of them.

Related: Obamacare taxpayers ask, 'Where's my refund?'

The agency said 9 out of 10 refunds will go out within 21 days from when a return is filed. But refunds for paper returns -- which normally take four to six weeks -- could take at least 7 weeks this year.

The vast majority of the returns filed so far this year (13.3 million) were filed electronically.

Overall, the IRS receives about 150 million returns a year.

CNNMoney (New York) February 6, 2015: 3:43 PM ET

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Anthem probe looking at China as possible source of hack

FBI investigators aren't ready to make that conclusion, according to U.S. law enforcement and other government officials briefed on the probe.

Neither is Anthem.

"It's premature. Nothing confirmed," said Kristin Binns, a company spokeswoman.

The hack was uncovered when a computer systems employee stumbled on the hack in progress, according to a U.S. official briefed on the investigation. A systems operator conducting routine monitoring of Anthem's databases noticed a massive movement of data in the company's systems. Looking further, the employee discovered that his own computer credentials were being used to carry out the operation. His credentials had been stolen.

It's a common tactic of hackers to steal the computer credentials of computer systems employees who have free rein of the databases they're trying to break into.

The investigation has turned up Chinese IP addresses and other signs that point to Chinese involvement.

However, it's common for hackers to route attacks through multiple countries and mask IP addresses in these attacks as a way to hide their trail. Computer servers in the U.S. also were used.

Law enforcement cyber experts say a hack like that against Anthem (ANTM) isn't the type that officials typically see from China. Stealing personal data on Americans is typically the trade of Russian, eastern European and criminal western hacking groups that specialized on selling private data on the black market for profit. Chinese hackers tend to target trade, economic, and national security secrets that could help the Chinese economy.

For example, last year Chinese hacker spies were caught breaking into nuclear power plants, steel manufacturers and a solar energy company.

Anthem's investigators believe they have an explanation for the unusual Chinese hack, according to people briefed on the company's investigation. The hackers were targeting the company's proprietary and intellectual secrets for managing health care systems. Chinese health care is undergoing its own crisis in recent years and the hackers were looking for the data to learn how a large American health care company manages its health delivery systems.

Cybersecurity firms that aren't working on this case caution that it's far too early to definitely say the Chinese government is behind this attack. Typically, the forensic investigation of a data breach takes weeks or months to even find out exactly how it occurred. And few ever discovered who did it.

However, one security firm, CrowdStrike, pointed out that it would fit the profile of a hacking group believed to be Chinese government spies.

The "Deep Panda" operation, as researchers deemed it, is seeking to amass a large collection of Americans' personal information.

The purpose? To find citizens willing to spy for the Chinese and identify potential U.S. spies operating in China, said Dmitri Alperovitch, CrowdStrike's cofounder. That's why Chinese hackers broke into U.S. federal employee network last year. They also broke at least three hospital chains and two insurance providers the public hasn't yet heard about, Alperovitch said.

--CNN's Jose Pagliery contributed reporting from New York.

Related: TurboTax halts all state tax filings due to fraud concerns

Related: Insurance giant Anthem hit by massive data breach

Related: 10 worst hacks of all time

CNNMoney (Washington) February 6, 2015: 6:46 PM ET

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Millennials not quite ready to start buying homes yet

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor reported that hiring remained strong in January. Average hourly wages rose, too.

"The fact that jobs are stable means that potential home buyers feel more stable," said Danielle Hale, director of housing statistics at the National Association of Realtors.

For several years now, that hasn't been the case. Stagnant wages and unemployment among young people -- the demographic that drives much of the housing demand -- have kept many first time buyers out of the market.

Related: What will your monthly mortgage payment be?

But things are looking up, with employment among 25- to 34-year olds reaching its highest level since the end of 2008, the Bureau of Labor reported.

Young people with jobs and freshly increased wages won't immediately come rushing into the housing market, however. They will have to save up for down payments and manage their student loan debt first, said Jed Kolko, chief economist at Trulia.

Another big hurdle: incomes.

"They need to see that growth in their income is substantial before they take on that financial obligation, which is the largest they'll probably have in their life," said Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae.

Related: American dream homes -- what you'll pay in 10 cities

Home prices have continued to rise faster than wages, and young adult employment remains below the levels that group enjoyed before the recession struck.

Duncan predicts that Millennials won't be a primary driving force for the housing market for another four or five years.

Meanwhile, mortgage rates are expected to increase in 2015, and affordability will likely remain a challenge for many buyers.

"There are still obstacles to home ownership," said Kolko. "There are many more jobs reports to get back to normal, but this is a step in the right direction."

CNNMoney (New York) February 6, 2015: 8:11 PM ET

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Obama jobs: More caregivers, servers and temps

Those sectors were responsible more than 60% of the jobs created since Obama took office in January 2009.

How much of a role any president plays in job creation during his administration is up for debate. One thing is for certain, though. It's the service sector -- particularly healthcare and food workers -- that's been fueling job growth in recent years.

Healthcare now employs 14.9 million Americans, up 11% over the past six years, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. More than one in 10 payroll jobs in the U.S. are in this industry.

Much of the job growth in healthcare has taken place in home health care services and outpatient care. That follows both the aging of America and the shift away from more costly hospital and nursing home care. These later two industries added only 3.7% and 1.2% more jobs, respectively, since 2009.

Related: This is why Obama is so concerned about the middle class

More recently, Obamacare has fueled a surge in healthcare spending and employment, said Katherine Hempstead, a director at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Last year's expansion of coverage -- thanks to the opening of the Obamacare insurance exchanges and the expansion of Medicaid in many states -- has prompted many healthcare providers to boost their staffs.

Health care clinics, which have been multiplying in many locales, are expected to continue growing, Hempstead said.

People are "finding them to be more convenient and they are delivering better and better service," she said.

Meanwhile, bars, restaurants and other food-service employers have also been adding to their payrolls. More than 10.8 million people now work in this industry, up 14.6% over the past six years.

And temporary help agencies saw their employment soar 52.5% during the Obama administration to just under 3 million.

On the flip side, construction workers and government employees have lost their jobs in droves, though these sectors are coming back.

Hundreds of thousands of teachers, state workers and local government employees were given pink slips over the past six years. These sectors are slowly adding to their ranks once again.

Construction, specifically specialty trade contractors who work in skilled jobs such as ironwork, plumbing or excavation, were the biggest losers during Obama's term. It has shed nearly 320,000 positions, bottoming out in January 2011 at 3.4 million employees.

By the time Obama took office, the construction industry was in the midst of a 4.5-year slide, said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, a construction trade group.

Since then, both the industry as a whole and specialty workers have seen a rebound. Simonson expects it to continue in 2015, fueled by residential and private-sector, non-residential construction. Skilled workers, meanwhile, are in demand.

"It's really hard to find experienced construction workers who are still sitting at home," Simonson said.

CNNMoney (New York) February 5, 2015: 6:13 PM ET

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IRS rehired problem employees, report finds

Of the more than 7,000 former workers the IRS rehired, 824 had prior performance or behavior issues, the report found.

But at the IRS, bringing problem employees back on board isn't entirely out of the question.

Of the more than 7,000 former employees the IRS hired between January 2010 and September 2013, 824 of them were found to have prior performance and conduct issues, a new oversight report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found.

TIGTA reviewed a random sample of more than 300 employees who had conduct or performance issues in the past and found that 20% had developed new issues during their second go-round.

Problem behaviors have included employees who willfully failed to file their taxes, gained unauthorized access to taxpayer information, abused the agency's leave policy, misused IRS property, falsified official forms, did a bad job or had behavioral or legal problems off-duty, such as alcoholism or bankruptcy.

Related: IRS says it's using technology from JFK's time

"Based on the types of prior performance and conduct issues we identified, rehiring certain employees presents increased risk to the IRS and taxpayers," said J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

TIGTA found that the IRS followed the federal government's "suitability standards" for considering a job applicants' past offenses and concluded that nothing "would prohibit the IRS from hiring these individuals."

But the oversight report suggested this wasn't enough.

It cited one instance in which the file for a former problem employee was explicitly marked "Do Not Rehire" because the person was "absent without leave for 312 hours." Yet the person was rehired anyway.

In response to TIGTA's findings, the IRS noted in the report that it revamped its hiring process in 2012 and now "appropriately considers prior conduct and performance in hiring decisions."

Related: 'Devastating erosion' of taxpayer services at IRS

TIGTA, however, would like the agency to "reassess its current processes to more fully consider prior conduct and performance issues before rehiring employees."

Earlier this week, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told the Senate Finance Committee that over 99% of the agency's employees are compliant with their taxes - the highest compliance rate of any U.S. government agency, he noted.

CNNMoney (New York) February 5, 2015: 6:59 PM ET

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Verizon unloads landline service in $15B deal

Frontier Communications (FTR) will acquire the phone and broadband wires from Verizon (VZ, Tech30).

The deal means that millions of residential, commercial and wholesale Verizon customers will have their service transferred to Frontier.

"Together we will ensure a smooth transition for our customers and employees," said Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam in a prepared statement.

Approximately 11,000 Verizon employees are expected to become Frontier employees as a result of the deal.

Verizon shares rose about 1% and Frontier was 4% higher in after hours trading.

CNNMoney (New York) February 5, 2015: 7:25 PM ET

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Girl Scout cookies just got more expensive

The news that a box of Thin Mints could cost $5 this year has some people up in arms. One Twitter user called the hike a "serious problem that needs to be addressed" and another wrote "first housing, now this?"

But before CNNMoney got all riled up, we took a look at the numbers.

First of all, cookie prices vary from region to region. Second, not all troops are raising prices. The Girls Scout troops of Greater New York and Central Illinois, for example, are keeping cookie prices at $4 a box. The Girl Scouts Heart of the South troops, which cover some of Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas, are raising their $3.50 a box price by 50 cents.

Related: You can order Girl Scout cookies online, but there's a catch

California is where cookie fans will have to shell out $5 for one box. The troops of Greater Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego are increasing the price to $5 from $4.

While that's a hefty 25% increase, it's the first time those troops have raised the price in a decade. Inflation has gone up by more during the same time period. Plus, what the LA troop pays the baking company for the cookies has gone up 19% since 2004, according to the troop's website. In nearby Orange County it's gone up by 14%.

They're not the first to sell boxes for $5 either. Girl Scouts of Northern California did so last year.

And despite all the hooting and hollering, the Girls Scouts don't expect the price hike to make it harder to sell cookies. They say research shows that many customers don't know what they paid per box last year anyway.

CNNMoney (New York) February 3, 2015: 7:20 PM ET

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Caddies: PGA treats us like second-class citizens

Golf caddie Kenny Harms (far right) is pictured with golfers Gary Player (middle) and Kevin Na (far left).

More than 80 professional golf caddies filed a $50 million class action federal lawsuit against the PGA Tour Tuesday saying it isn't fair to force them to wear bibs emblazoned with logos during tournaments without offering them compensation.

The bibs are sponsored by companies like Coca-Cola and Buick, and the money goes directly to the PGA Tour. The complaint alleges that the PGA retains "for itself the tens of millions of dollars in advertising revenue generated by those bibs annually."

"We are advertising for these corporate sponsors and not being reciprocated for it," said Kenny Harms, 49, who has been a caddy for 25 years. One of the lead plaintiffs in the case, he caddies for Kevin Na, who is ranked 29th in the world. Na says he supports him "100 percent" in the suit.

Related: NFL gets billions in subsidies from U.S. taxpayers

Harms, who is also on the board of the Association of Professional Tour Caddies, said he went back and forth with the tour for the last year in private negotiations, but that the tour said the bibs were "off limits." Harms said the lawsuit was the only way to go.

"Everybody knows we went through the proper channels to avoid this. Unfortunately we're in a corner and this is our only option."

Caddies are experts on golf courses, and a good caddie can mean the difference between a loss and a win. The complaint says "caddies also serve as coaches, strategists, general assistants, cheerleaders, counselors and friends."

But, Harms said, the caddies are still treated like second-class citizens.

At the Sony Open in Hawaii just this year, for example, there was a sign on the clubhouse that said no caddies allowed.

"I guess it did say please," Harms said. He said caddies are often forced to stand in tents when rain hits a tournament while the players and officials stay dry in the locker rooms or the clubhouse.

As independent contractors, the tour doesn't provide caddies with healthcare, pensions or retirement plans. All their travel expenses have to be taken care of themselves. Harms said caddies make anywhere from $1,000 a week to $2,500 and get 5-10% of the winnings.

Related: Why neon is taking over the world

If the caddies could have their own sponsored bibs, or have a share of the proceeds from them, it would mean a big difference for them and their families.

"What we're looking for is fairness," Harms said. "It's a big family that we are out here. Unfortunately the tour doesn't look at it as the caddies being part of that family."

The PGA Tour declined to comment.

CNN Sports contributed reporting.

CNNMoney (New York) February 3, 2015: 7:58 PM ET

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Disney profits keep casting their spell

Disneyland celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2015.

Walt Disney Company (DIS) reported solid quarterly results that easily beat expectations on Tuesday.

Disney reported revenues of $13.3 billion up 9% from $12.3 billion in the first quarter a year ago. The news sent Disney's stock up 3% in after-hours trading.

Disney earnings have been on a hot streak.

In fact, the last time Disney missed on Wall Street estimates was May of 2011, according to FactSet.

"Our results once again reflect the strength of our brands," Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a letter to investors.

Consumer products saw its operating income surge 46%, mainly due to "Frozen" merchandise that was very popular over the holidays.

During a call with analysts, Iger made a point of noting that the company has 11 franchises that will generate $1 billion in retail sales this year.

Speaking of franchises, Iger also hinted at the possibility of Disney one day creating over-the-top-programming involving franchises like Marvel and "Star Wars."

However, he made sure to convey the importance of Disney's traditional TV bundle which is how most people currently watch the company's media networks like ESPN.

As for its parks and resorts, Disney reported revenues for the quarter that increased 9% to $3.9 billion.

The increase comes at a time where the company finds itself in the middle of the vaccination debate after its California park, Disneyland, was linked to a measles outbreak last month.

An outbreak that according to Iger has not impacted attendance.

"We really have not been able to discern any impact at all from that," Iger told CNBC's media reporter Julia Boorstin. "In fact, if you were to look at Disneyland... we're up from where we were last year in both attendance and in bookings or reservations."

CNNMoney (New York) February 3, 2015: 8:18 PM ET

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NYSE suspends trading of RadioShack

RadioShack does not have have a high enough valuation to be listed on the exchange, which requires companies to keep a market cap of at least $50 million.

The retailer has also been low on cash. Struggling to compete with online stores like Amazon, losses mounted and RadioShack (RSH) burned through all but $43 million of its cash by last November. Even counting its credit lines, the company only had $63 million available heading into the Christmas shopping season.

Related: 94 years of hits and misses at RadioShack

Although it once boasted about its vast retail network, saying that 90% of the U.S. population lived or worked within a few minutes of a RadioShack location, the company's 5,000 stores have been weighing it down.

Last March, the company announced a plan to close about 1,100 stores, but it's an expensive undertaking due to the cost of severance, liquidating merchandise and paying penalties to get out of leases.

It was only able to close 175 stores through the end of October. By year's end it was battling with its lenders to get the green light to close more.

RadioShack can review and appeal the decision by the NYSE to suspend trading. The company declined to comment.

Related: Time is running out for RadioShack

CNNMoney (New York) February 2, 2015: 6:45 PM ET

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