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Mortgage rates fall; Unemployment data still weak
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| Contributor | particleman |
| Last Edited | particleman Dec 18, 2008 01:18pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Website - Yahoo News |
| News Date | Thursday, December 18, 2008 07:15:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | WASHINGTON – Mortgage rates are falling as this week's dramatic action by the Federal Reserve provides a boost to the dismal housing market, but the nation's unemployment rolls are stuck at historically high levels amid a deepening recession.
Jobs data from the government, while better than expected, was still sobering. The Labor Department on Thursday said its tally of initial jobless benefit claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 554,000 from an upwardly revised figure of 575,000 the previous week. The new tally was slightly below economists' expectations of 558,000 claims.
Another slight improvement was seen in the number of people who continue to receive jobless benefits, which declined to 4.38 million from 4.43 million the previous week. Economists expected a slight increase to 4.45 million. Still, claims remain near the highest level since 1982, though the labor force has grown by about half since then.
The national average rate on 30-year, fixed mortgages was 5.06 percent on Wednesday, according to financial publisher HSH Associates — the lowest since the 1960s and down from 5.3 percent Tuesday. It was the best news in months for anyone looking to lock in a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage. But it was not expected to be a cure-all, and borrowers already in danger of foreclosure probably won't be able to take advantage. |
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