10/02/2026
Today presented a counterintuitive move in the mortgage market. Despite a weaker-than-expected jobs report, the average rate for a top-tier 30-year fixed mortgage increased by 0.04% to an index of 7.57%. The headline data showed the unemployment rate rising to 4.2%, which would normally suggest lower rates. However, the market looked deeper, noting that the unrounded numbers showed a much smaller increase and that more people entering the labor force skewed the result. Without that influx, the unemployment rate would have been a much stronger 3.951%. This underlying strength, combined with rebounding oil prices and easing concerns in European bond markets, caused bonds to reverse their initial gains. As a result, lenders who had offered lower rates this morning were forced to increase them by the end of the day.