Happy Friday, and welcome to the Total Mortgage Current Mortgage Rates Blog. There’s some economic data out today, but first, your daily mortgage rate forecast/advice.
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates.
Where are mortgage rates going?
The big news today is the December Employment Situation (a.k.a the jobs report). It’s the first jobs report of 2017 and the last one of Obama’s presidency. After yesterday’s ADP employment report, expectations for jobs added were low, and the report didn’t disappoint.
Only 156,000 jobs were added last month, compared to the 175,000 that economists had predicted. The labor force participation rate fell to 62.7%, meaning that 95.102 million Americans are no longer in the workforce.
Surprisingly, though, average hourly earnings rose by 0.4% in December, putting it at 2.9% year on year.
That’s high enough to put pressure on inflation, and possibly fan the Fed’s rate hike fire. Financial market participants are taking the opportunity to move back into stocks and out of government bonds, bumping treasury yields and mortgage rates up several basis points this morning.
What does this mean for me?
There was a brief respite the past few days, but the jobs report is floating mortgage rates higher this morning. The long term trend definitely still points toward higher rates, so anyone looking to lock in the lowest rate possible will most likely be better off acting sooner rather than later.
Today’s economic data:
Employment Situation
- 156,000 jobs added in December
- Unemployment Rate = 4.7%
- Participation Rate = 62.7%
International Trade
It’s bad news this morning, as the trade deficit widened to a nine-month high in November due to falling exports and rising imports. The deficit is now at $45.2 billion.
Fedspeak
- Charles Evans
- Jeffrey Lacker
- Robert Kaplan
Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates.
Notable events this week:
Monday:
- Markets Closed
Tuesday:
- PMI Mfg Index
- ISM Mfg Index
Wednesday:
- FOMC Minutes
Thursday:
- ADP Employment Report
- Jobless Claims
- EIA Petroleum Status Report
Friday:
- Employment Situation
- International Trade
- Fedspeak
from Total Mortgage Underwritings Blog http://ift.tt/2hYQWs0
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