Weaker than expected labor market data fuels late week rally

Happy Friday from Local Mortgage!

Weaker labor market data fueled a decent end of the week rally for mortgage rates as we improved just a bit, still at 5.875% for our best 30-year fixed scenario but now with some decent credit towards closing costs.  We are inching back close to 5.75%, which is our most recent 3-year low.

The week started with rates moving up a bit on stronger than expected manufacturing data, with the ISM manufacturing index jumping to 52.6, which is a sign of expansion and well above the 48.5 mark that was predicted.

Wednesday and Thursday however brought weaker than expected labor market data as the ADP job estimate missed expectations and the job openings report plunged to 6.54 million well below the expected consensus of 7.2 million. With Friday’s big job report being rescheduled until next Wednesday, these two underlying reports carried the most weight this week.

Along with the rescheduled employment report, next week will also bring inflation data with the CPI report on Friday.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and thank you for reading.