Employers added 4.8 million jobs in June – The Department of Labor and Statistics reported that 4.8 million new jobs were added in June. That eclipsed analysts’ expectations of 2.9 million new jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 11.1% from 13.3% in May. It was 14.7% in April, the highest reading since the Great Depression, so the last two months have shown a very positive trend.
Stocks rose sharply on jobs data – Despite a sharp uptick in Coronavirus cases, and a pausing and scaling back of the reopening of the economy, major stock market indexes rallied all week. This was due to positive payroll data and the June jobs report which confirmed that over 4.5 million workers returned to work in June. The Dow had its best second quarter since 1987 gaining 17.8%, as investors believe the recovery will be quicker than previously expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 25,827.36, up 3.2% from 25,015.55 last week. It’s down 9.5% year to date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 3,130.01, up 4% from 3,009.05 last week. It’s down 3.1% year to date. The NASDAQ closed the week at 10,207.63, up 4.6% from 9,757.22 last week. It’s up 13.8% year to date.
U.S. Treasury bond yields – The 10-year treasury bond closed the week yielding 0.68%, up slightly from 0.64% last week. The 30-year treasury bond yield ended the week at 1.43%, up slightly from 1.37% last week.
Mortgage rates – The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey released on July 2, 2020, reported mortgage rates for the most popular loan products as follows: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate average was 3.07%, down from 3.13% last week. The 15-year fixed was 2.56%, down slightly from 2.59% last week. The 5-year ARM was 3.00%, down from 3.08% last week.
Wishing you a happy, healthy 4th of July!