| Week of April 15, 2012 As expected, mortgage rates retreated from their recent bounce upward. Last week’s economic news continued to reveal temperate economic news, which has deflated some of the recent optimism that the market was experiencing. Weekly jobless claims moved higher last week, and after March’s disappointing jobs report, the additional disappointing news helped temper hopes for the rate of recovery in the labor market. However, the Fed’s Beige Book continues to reinforce that we are in a recovery, even if it does seem painfully slow and unevenly spread. Retail Sales and Industrial Production numbers will be the biggest economic data for the market this week. Near-expectations or even slightly-below expectations readings will likely hold mortgage rates at their current level. Concerns over the effect of rising gas prices could put some damper on moods, and provide additional downward pressure on rates. However, if we see signs that the economic slowing in Europe and China is not significantly impacting the US, rates could be pushed up slightly. |
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