Mortgage rates are mostly unchanged this morning.
Beginning today the markets will digest three important employment reports over the remainder of the week. This morning the private payroll company ADP released their version of the jobs report and it showed that 91,000 new jobs were created last month. This figure is in line with expectations and considered a good reading given all the volatility in the past 30 days. Tomorrow the Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims and on Friday we get the all-important government jobs report.
In other economic news, a survey of of purchase manager’s in the Chicago region showed better than expected activity. Minutes from the most recent Fed monetary policy meeting released yesterday afternoon showed that policymakers spent more time discussing the possibility of a third round of quantitative easing.
In response to the positive economic news, rates are threatening to worsen this morning as stocks trade in positive territory.
If your plan is to lock in ahead of Friday’s job report, which has historically been a catalyst for rates to change (for better or worse), it may not be a bad idea to lock in today.
Current Outlook: short-term locking bias