Fed Comments Reveal Plan for Rate Hike Speeches made by Fed officials during the first part of the week alerted investors that the Fed may be much closer to another federal funds rate hike than investors expected.
[Mortgage Minute] Week of May 9, 2016
Ho Hum Job Report Leaves Market in Limbo The most highly anticipated economic report of the month contained just minor surprises. Against a consensus forecast of 200K, the economy added 160K jobs in April, and downward revisions to prior months subtracted another 19K. Although still in positive territory, this was the smallest monthly increase in jobs since last Sept.
[Mortgage Minute] Week of May 2, 2016
Soft Fed Statement Helps Rates The big event last week was Wednesday’s Fed meeting. A dovish Fed statement was positive for mortgage rates. The additional economic data released over the past week closely matched expectations, so it had little impact. Mortgage rates ended the week slightly lower.
[Mortgage Minute] Week of Apr. 18, 2016
Tepid Inflation and Retail Sales Keep Rates Flat Core CPI inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy components, was 2.2% higher than a year ago, down from a 2.3% annual rate in February, and below the consensus forecast.
[Mortgage Minute] Week of Apr. 11, 2016
Central Bank Statements Help Rates Statements by the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the U.S. Fed shared the same sentiment, the global economy needs support.
[Mortgage Minute] Week of Apr. 4, 2016
Yellen Speech is Music to Market’s Ears Despite the release of a wide range of major economic data, a speech from Fed Chair Yellen had the biggest influence on mortgage rates over the past week. Her comments were favorable for both stocks and bonds, and mortgage rates ended the week lower.
[Mortgage Minute] Week of Mar. 21, 2016
Fed Slows Rate Hike Forecast As expected, the Fed did not change the federal funds rate at their March meeting.
[Mortgage Minute] Week of Mar. 14, 2016
Rates Remain Low on News of ECB Stimulus The European Central Bank (ECB) added to its stimulus program to help boost economic growth and raise inflation. The actions included cutting key interest rates and increasing the size of its asset purchase program.
[Mortgage Minute] Week of Mar. 7, 2016
Strong Job Gains, Wages Stagnant Friday’s Employment report showed that job gains remained strong, with the economy adding 242K jobs in February.
[Mortgage Minute] Week of Feb. 29, 2016
Rates Up on Strong Economic Data The Core PCE price index is the monthly inflation indicator preferred by the Fed, and the readings for January showed that inflation is rising more quickly than expected.