Rates Tick Lower Ahead of Jobs Report

Mortgage rates ticked lower this week, remaining near multi-year lows ahead of Friday’s jobs report.

An upward move in rates seemed possible leading up to the G20 summit, which ended on Saturday. But few substantive developments emerged from the meetings despite some optimism surrounding U.S.-China trade talks. From there, the market’s attention shifted to the abundance of influential economic data released this week. The news has been lackluster thus far, with both the manufacturing and services sectors taking a step back and still-low inflation figures showing only modest growth from the month before.

The most important release, though, is that of June jobs figures, due this coming Friday. Always a market-mover, this month’s figures carry considerable influence in the wake of last month’s disappointing release and should offer insight into whether last month was an exception or the beginning of a downward trend. Whichever the direction, a notable move in rates is likely on the horizon.