In the absence of any significant or surprising economic news this week, the stock market has kept on its path of hitting new records. The indices all hit new all-time highs.

Jobs news!!! the Department of Labor reported today that the economy added 217,000 new jobs last month, beating out a consensus forecast of 213,000 among economists surveyed by Econoday. This left the national unemployment rate unchanged at 6.3 percent.

More important, in my opinion, the seasonally adjusted U-6 unemployment rate, which includes people marginally attached to the labor force and those employed part-time for economic reasons, performed slightly better, falling a tenth of a percentage point to 12.2 percent (DSNEWS). I believe this is a more telling sign of unemployment. Remember it doesn’t include those that are no longer looking for a job!

On Wednesday the ADP employment report delivered a lower than expected estimated employment increase of 179,000 jobs.  The Econoday consensus estimate was at 210,000.

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In the housing market, the overheated market in some parts of the country appears to be cooling.  In 2013 cities such as Las Vegas, San Francisco, Phoenix, and California2019s Silicon Valley had seen property appreciation of 20% or more per year.  According to Trulia Inc., these markets are starting to see a cooling trend and that the expectation of home values rising at the same pace is going away.  These markets are still considered very healthy and there continues to be a lack of inventory available for sale which is keeping prices rising.  However, buyer demand seems to be slowing slightly which of course will impact the pace in which home prices increase. 

The Mortgage Bankers Association of American reported that despite mortgage rates remaining very low, applications for purchase and refinances both declined in the prior week.  Mortgage rates have been inching back up however they still remain historically low.

Construction spending increased by 0.2 percent for the month of April. The advancement is a positive sign for construction however the increase was below most analyst’s expectations.

Factory orders for the month of April moved up 0.7 percent. This shows continued sign of improvement and growth in the manufacturing sector. The previous months was also revised upward from 1.0 percent up to 1.5%. The ISM Manufacturing Index also showed more than expected growth reinforcing the fact that production and manufacturing in the U.S. are gaining strength.

Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.

Next week’s market moving reports are: 

• Wednesday June 11^th – MBA Applications
• Thursday June 12th – First Time Jobless Claims and Retail Sales
• Friday June 13^th – Producer Price Index 

As your mortgage professional, I am happy to assist you with any information you may need regarding mortgage or real estate trends.  I welcome the opportunity to serve you in any way I possibly can.  Please feel free to reach me at 661-505-4300.

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