Weekly Unemployment Claims (every Thursday)
Last week’s unemployment figures were posted at 8:30 AM ET this morning, revealing that 1.877 million new claims for benefits were filed last week. That was in line with expectations of 1.8 million and down from the previous week’s 2.12 million new filings, but still shows significant issues in the employment sector. Over the past 11 weeks, more than 42 million people have filed for unemployment assistance as a result of the pandemic. Because weaker economic conditions usually hurt stocks and make bonds more appealing to investors, we can consider the data neutral to slightly favorable for mortgage rates.