Weekly Mortgage Update

The labor day weekend is here and it is somehow ironic that we are celebrating our labor force when Friday’s announcement from the Department of Labor showed that the number of net jobs added in August was ZERO.

Why am I not singing the blues? Well, for one thing, the household survey of employment showed a sizeable increase of 331,000 jobs in August, keeping the unemployment rate steady at 9.1 percent. (Why the two surveys are so far apart is due to how each is calculated.) Retail sales reports came in strong this week and consumer spending is still on the rise. The ISM Manufacturing Report also showed some improvement.

While the possibility of a double dip recession continues, I see more of the same ‘muddling through’ that we’ve had earlier this year with steady, slow improvement. The silver lining to the continued weak economic news is that mortgage rates remain at record lows.

Enjoy your labor day weekend. We all work hard and it’s important to celebrate what we do have instead of worrying about what we don’t.

This week Freddie Mac’s 30 yr. fixed rate survey remained at 4.22% depending on program, credit and points.

Ted Clay
Senior Loan Officer
Senior Loan Consultant
NMLSR # 217991
OK License # MLO01963
Office: 405-341-8644 x 102
Cell: 405-826-1320
Fax: 866-208-5309
tclay@wrstarkey.com
www.TedClay.com

WR Starkey Mortgage, LLP NMLSR # 2146
10 E. Campbell
Edmond, OK 73034