The average rate on 30-year mortgages has gone up (June 11)
There are signs that the worst of the recession may have passed and that the economy may have already bottomed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term US mortgage rates were mostly steady this week, continuing to hover near all-time lows.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan edged up from 3.18 percent last week to 3.21 percent. A year ago, the rate stood at 3.82 percent.
The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages was unchanged at 2.62 percent.
The government reported Thursday that about 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for US unemployment benefits last week, evidence that many Americans are still losing their jobs even as the economy appears to be slowly recovering with more businesses partially reopening.
But applications for jobless aid, though still historically high, have now declined for 10 straight weeks since peaking in mid-March, when the coronavirus hit the economy hard. That’s a sign that the worst of the recession may have passed and that the economy may have already bottomed.
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