Rate Update for September 5, 2008
Mortgage rates are lower today.
This morning’s jobs report was worse than expected anyway you want to look at it. The monthly jobs report indicated that the US economy lost 84,000 jobs in August. Furthermore, the unemployment rate rose to 6.1%, the highest level since September of 2003. Lastly, wages also rose quicker than expected. Although this is good news for the average American worker it is bad for mortgage rates because it raises concerns over “wage-based” inflation.
This morning’s weak economic news is crushing the stock market again which is good for interest rates. Mortgage rates are modestly lower today. We will shift to a floating position. However, it is possible bond prices could suffer this afternoon from a “leash-effect” which is a technical trading pattern. This would threaten the gains we’ve made in the past week.