This week was the week for the jobs reports-ADP Employment Report, Initial Jobless Claims, and the all important, Jobs Report. And all moved the bond market down causing mortgage interest rates to start to climb.
The ADP Employment Report came in slightly higher than expected but, still, it was the least amount of job losses we’ve seen since July 2008. ADP numbers aren’t always reliable but the market still moved with these numbers causing an alert to lock on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Initial Jobless Claims came out slightly lower than expected at 457,000. A 400,000 figure means that we are seeing some stabilization in the market. So we still have a little ways to go still. Also beware that Jobless Claims means people who are collecting unemployment benefits. It doesn’t count the people whose benefits have expired. So this figure can be misleading.
And today’s Jobs Report is what surprised the markets early this morning and had the economic reporters and traders dancing with glee on the stock exchange floor for a bit. Per the Labor Department, only 11,000 jobs were lost for the month of November. The market had expected around 125,000!!! A big difference. This along with revised numbers from the past two months lowered the overall Unemployment Rate to 10.0%. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement that he feels that the economy is slowly moving towards job creation.
This is good news for our economy. The slowing of job loss, a slight gain in the hours worked per week, and an increase in temporary workers could mean we may be more firmly turning the corner on this recession. As a note, increase in temporary workers at temp companies normally happens prior to companies hiring staff full-time. It’s sort of a “let’s try to this on for size before buying.”
While this is all good news, remember as the economy starts to pull itself out of the throes of this recession, mortgage interest rates will start to raise.
If you haven’t refinance yet into a lower mortgage interest rate, don’t wait and miss this opportunity to lower your monthly payment. Even jumbo mortgage interest rates have been coming down. So please call so we can make sure you are in the lowest possible mortgage interest rate for your financial goals.
And for those first time homebuyers, don’t wait! As the economy improves, so will housing values. And the combination of higher home values and higher mortgage interest rates could mean that you could potentially price yourself out of purchasing a home for you and your family.
Please feel free to contact me with your questions or concerns. I am here to assist you in any way I can.
As always, I will report daily on twitter @mmtgsolutions on the mortgage interest rates and what to expect for the day. If any of the economic reports move the market in a significant manner, I’ll write about it here.
Please remember, I welcome your comments to this and my other posts.
Have an inspired week.
Betsy Moore
206-331-2749
Twitter Updates
29 December 2009 at 5:48 am
As to what you have pointed out of this article, I agree that the value of your property will eventually mark up as soon as the economy will improve. So you should know when and how to hit the market considering the recession we all faced with.
29 December 2009 at 9:59 am
Hi, Apartment,
Thanks for your comment! Today, Case-Shilling Home Price Report came out today. It was relatively flat after 4 consective months of gain. For the 20 top cities they track, we are still 7.2% lower than last year. Per this report, some markets like California are again on the upside. I feel that we will see home values go up this coming year but I don’t think values will gain by leaps and bounds. Instead, it will be a slow upward climb over the next few years.
If I can answer any questions or concerns for you, please feel free to contact me.
Betsy
206-331-2749