The number of people filing for unemployment dropped 6,000 from last week to 213,000.  Market was expecting 220,000.  Initial Jobless Claims have a “moderate” impact on mortgage rates.  Another “moderate” reading is NAR’s Existing Home Sales which rose by 3.3% from this time last year.  We certainly need more homes selling and I love hearing that it’s (slowly) happening!

The Philly Fed Manufacturing Index read 10.3 last month and we were anticipating a decline to 6.3.  What we got though is a reading of -5.5.  That’s a bust and definitely shows current weakness in the production of domestic goods.  The Philly Fed is seen as having a “high” impact on mortgage rates.

So two small steps backward and one large step forward essentially keeps rates in the same place today as yesterday.  Technically, MBS are moving sideways across a well established floor of support.  Whether that floor holds remains to be seen.