Strong Job Gains Drive Consumer Confidence Surge Despite Lower Rates
Key economic reports indicate that strong job gains drove a surge in consumer confidence. Bond investors displayed satisfaction.
Outstanding Economic Rebound Slows Its Growth While Inflation Explodes
After last year's partial economic shutdown, the outstanding economic rebound slows its growth while inflation explodes, leading to worry.
Good Hospitality Job Gains Fuel Hope in Promising Mortgage Market
Friday’s labor report illustrated good hospitality job gains after a rough 2020. Overall, this continues to fuel hope in what’s quickly becoming a promising mortgage market.
Analysts See Strong Inflation Data While the Economy Reopens
As the U.S. returns to "normalcy", analysts see strong inflation data while the economy reopens. Job openings hit record highs. The housing market continues to grow. More Americans are getting their COVID-19 vaccinations. And inflation shows renewed intrigue. But most importantly, investors observe how each of these components affect mortgage-backed securities. Analysts See Strong Inflation Data While the Economy Gains Jobs April's release of labor market and manufacturing data proved stronger than expected. While the stronger than expected return contributed to analysts seeing strong inflation data, mortgage rates barely changed. Employment Report The highly anticipated monthly employment report revealed very impressive results. In March 2021, the economy gained 916,000 jobs. Overall, this rose far above the consensus forecast of 625,000. In addition, analysts supplied added 156,000 jobs to prior month results. In particular, the hospitality and construction sectors displayed strength. This is especially interesting because both of these sectors suffered blowbacks during the pandemic. Average Hourly Earnings Average hourly earnings, an indicator of wage growth, fell slightly from February. Thus, the result did not reach the consensus, but saw a modest increase. Compared to 2020, average hourly earnings jumped 4.2% higher than a year ago. However, average hourly earnings dropped [...]
Job Gains See a Startling Plummet Lowering Mortgage Rates
This past week marked disappointment in the labor market as job gains see a startling plummet. The major economic data accompanied by Friday's labor market report fell well below analyst expectations.
Impressive Employment Gains & Manufacturing Sector
In this past week’s labor market reporting, the economy realized impressive employment gains and manufacturing sector strength. As a result, both exceeded expectations. In spite of this positivity, mortgage rates ended the week with little change. Impressive Employment Gains Analysts finally learned the latest on Employment in the report released Friday, April 2nd, 2021. To the surprise of many, the data displayed impressive employment gains. Overall, the United States economy gained 916,000 jobs. This result is far above the consensus forecast of 625,000. In addition, the prior month showed revised results to the addition of 156,000 jobs. In particular, the hospitality and construction sectors exhibited strength. This is fantastic news given that both the hospitality and construction industries suffered at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Impressive Employment Gains Lead to Unemployment Rate Decline Because of the impressive employment gains, the unemployment rate saw a decline. Thus, the unemployment rate dropped from 6.2% to 6.0%. This result matched expectations. On the other hand, the economy expressed a decline in average hourly earnings. Generally, economists consider average hourly earnings to be an indicator of wage growth. The average hourly earnings fell slightly from February, below the consensus for a modest increase. [...]
Home Sales Stumble with Low Housing Inventory This Year
After the previous bounce back, this past week saw home sales stumble. Meanwhile, mortgage rates also ended the week a little lower.
Mixed Labor Market Data as Coronavirus Spreads Throughout the World
This past week saw mixed labor market data. However, it was a relatively quiet week for mortgage-backed securities overall.
Coronavirus Mortgage Rates Now Reflect Weak Economy This Year
The coronavirus mortgage rates changed as new reports were released. Though a lot is still uncertain, there were positive signs for the U.S. economy.
Economic Shutdown This Year Fuels GDP Decline Despite the Recovery
With the recent economic shutdown, mortgage rates dropped slightly to new record-low levels this week, alongside declining GDP.