Rich’s Rates Roundup Week of April 1, 2024… All the week's news affecting mortgage rates!

What will affect the bond market and, by extension, the mortgage market this week?

This week it is mostly jobs-jobs-jobs. Why are jobs so important to the bond market? The more jobs there are, the more money there is to spend. The more money there is to spend, the more money is chasing after the "limited" supply of goods or services. Since this supply is limited, sellers can charge more for these goods and services. They are in demand. This situation is inflationary. Exactly what the FED does not want to see. It would keep them from lowering the discount rate for a longer period of time.

What numbers are we focusing on? ADP Private Payroll Change is a huge one. ADP is a giant in the payroll industry. Their payroll changes give a pretty good bird's eye view estimate of what is happening in the private sector employment world.

The JOLTS Report is the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary report. It is a monthly report that trails the prior months' Jobs Report.

Today we had the ISM Manufacturing Index. This measures the health of the manufacturing sector in the US. While this has been a weaker area in our economy recently, they recovered in the last month. Mortgage Back Securities and the 10-year treasury have taken a beating today as the market reacts to this stronger economic indicator.

All said, we will be watching the interest rate market with great interest this week and look forward to helping our customers save money with our access to wholesale mortgage rates.
Remember, next week is the Solar Eclipse. It is a bright idea to get your eclipse glasses today so that our stellar rates don’t blind you!