Rates were excellent at the beginning of the week, but that began to change on Wednesday. We were already well on our way to 3-week highs on Thursday, and Friday made it official. Notably, these 3-week highs are still historically low. Friday’s main source of drama was the strong jobs report from the Labor Department. The unemployment rate dropped from 5.9% to 5.4%, easily besting expectations of 5.7%. This was accomplished despite a 0.1% increase in Americans who considered themselves part of the labor force (a statistic that is sometimes used to offset changes in the unemployment rate). The jobs report is always important, but this one and the next one are particularly important . They provide 2 key data points that will help inform the timing of the Fed’s decision to decrease its bond buying
Mortgage Rates Newsletter – Market Analysis