Mortgage Rate Update April 2, 2015

Mortgage rates priced better today than they were at the start of the week.

All eyes are focused on tomorrow’s all-important jobs report.  As you may recall last month the US economy added 295,000 new jobs which was higher than market expectations.  Mortgage rates initially rose on the headline number but then reversed course a couple days later.  To complicate things tomorrow is also Good Friday so the stock market is closed and the bond market will close at noon eastern time.

Currently, the markets are expecting ~235,000 new jobs and the US unemployment rate to remain at 5.5%.  Earlier today the Labor Department released figured for weekly jobless claims.  The report showed that only 268,000 new filings came in last week which is the lowest number in 15 years.

This morning’s jobless figures will not influence tomorrow’s jobs report but given the recent strength in labor market I believe borrowers are wise to lock in their rates.

Current Outlook: locking bias