Welcome to the Total Mortgage Current Mortgage Rates Blog. There’s a decent bit of economic data out today, but first, your daily mortgage rate forecast/advice.
Where are mortgage rates going?
February jobs report is good enough to secure March rate hike
The monthly jobs report got released earlier this morning, revealing that 235,000 private-sector jobs were added to the U.S. economy in February. The unemployment rate ticked down 0.1% to 4.7%. While the headline reading is almost certainly strong enough for Fed officials to increase the nation’s benchmark interest rate next week, the report wasn’t all positive.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates (Mar. 10, 2017).For the second straight month, average hourly earnings posted moderate growth, this time at 0.2%. It’s an interesting situation where the markets are reacting positively, but treasury yields are trending lower. The yield on the U.S. 10-year treasury note (the best market indicator of where mortgage rates are headed) is down about two basis points from where it closed yesterday. The markets had largely already priced in a strong monthly jobs report after a stellar ADP employment report on Wednesday, resulting in a somewhat muted response to today’s report.
Still, the stage is now set for the FOMC to raise the federal funds rate by a quarter percent up to 0.75%-1.00%. It will be the first hike of 2017. As always, it will be interesting to see what type of language the Federal Reserve uses in their statement. The minutes from the previous reading told us that there was much debate about whether or not the Trump administration will follow through with their pro-growth policy agenda.
What does this mean for me?
Mortgage rates avoided upward pressure from the jobs report, thanks to softer inflation expectations. The next big threat for rates to rise is the FOMC meeting next week. Anyone who is looking to avoid any risks would probably be better off taking the sure thing right now. It’s possible that the Fed will say something that causes rates to fall, but it’s far more likely that mortgage rates rise on Wednesday.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates (Mar. 10, 2017).Today’s economic data:
Employment Situation
- See above for details.
Notable events this week:
Monday:
- Fedspeak
Tuesday:
- International Trade
Wednesday:
- ADP Employment Report
- EIA Petroleum Status Report
- 10-Yr Note Auction
Thursday:
- Jobless Claims
- Import and Export Prices
Friday:
- Employment Situation
from Total Mortgage Underwritings Blog http://ift.tt/2mrxOHn
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