Happy Friday to you! Today the report of Non-Farm Payrolls was released. The market was expecting about 30,000 jobs lost and the actual number was 85,000. Though this is bad news for folks looking for work it is pretty good news for mortgage rates. Though rates havent improved much today a number below 30,000 would have certainly sent rates higher. At this point rates are poised to go higher so any bad economic news is delaying the inevitable hike.

The Fed is still set to end their mortgage bond purchase program at the end of March and when that happens you can expect to see the end of sub-5% rates. There has been some talk from a few of the Federal Reserve presidents that extending the mortgage bond purchase plan may be necessary to keep from a slide backwards for the housing market when the existing program ends. We will have to wait and see if enough of the voting Fed presidents can make this happen which would be great for home buyers and those who have not refinanced their loans yet.

Have a great weekend. Please feel free to send me quesitons or comments. I woudl also love to hear any ideas for content in future blogs. With so much changing in my industry I certainly have plenty to talk about, but it may not be of interest to non-mortgage folks.

Cheers! Rob