According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ official Jobs Report published this morning, more than twice as many new jobs were created this month compared to last month (271K v. 137K). This spike in hiring is well over the 180,000 expected by smarty economists. The boon in the labor market also dropped the Unemployment Rate to 5.0%. Additionally, the average hourly earnings rate jumped up 0.4%, the largest increase since 2009, and the number of Americans who are only working part time fell to the lowest level since 2008. Improvement in the job market was one of the conditions delineated by the Fed as a necessity prior to them raising interest rates. Going off of today’s report, that requirement can now be checked off.
Mortgage rates have been inching upward since the conclusion of the last Federal Open Market Committee meeting last week. Right now is a great time to get a better interest rate before they rise further.
