Friday’s key Employment report showed that the economy added just 98,000 jobs in March, well below the consensus forecast of 180,000. It appears that the weather had a larger than anticipated effect over the last two months. Incredibly warm weather likely boosted the results in February, while a severe storm seems to have slowed hiring in March.
A wide range of news was positive for mortgage rates this week. Hawkish comments from the Fed were the only significant unfavorable influence. As a result, mortgage rates ended the week lower, near the best levels of the year.
