What to Expect from the Week Ahead?

Mortgage interest rates bounced back on Friday, following the release of a good but not spectacularEmployment Situation Report for April. As we reported on Friday, U.S. non-farm employers added223,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate shifted down to 5.4% from the previous 5.5%.The current jobs figure is roughly in line with economists' expectations (a gain of 224,000).

As we mentioned above, mortgage interest rates struck back in the latter part of the week, but thegains haven't been enough to be able to recover all the losses they experienced earlier in the week.The most important set of economic reports in the upcoming week's news calendar, that caninfluence U.S. mortgage rates, includes March's JOLTS report, April's retail sales data, April'sproducer price index and the Fed's report on industrial production.

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On Tuesday, The Labor Department is going to publish March's JOLTS report, a short for the JobOpenings and Labor Turnover survey. The report will show if more workers are voluntarily leavingtheir jobs in hope to find find another one. If the report turns out positive, it will signal that workershave more confidence in the job market. The most recent JOLTS report from February, showed jobopenings at a 14-year high, indicating an improvement in the job market, so March's figure is one towatch for.

The Commerce Department will release April's retail sales data on Wednesday morning, which willgive us clues whether U.S. consumers boosted their spending last month. Retail sales ticked up 0.9%in March compared to February's data, which was broadly in line with economists' forecasts. ForApril, the consensus expectation is a 0.5% growth.

We will get some more domestic economic data in the form of April's producer price index (PPI) on

Thursday. Overall, the producer price index shows the prices that businesses receive for their goodsand services. Last month, the Labor Department said that March's producer price index rose aseasonally adjusted 0.2%, which marks the first increase after four straight month of declines. Theconsensus expectation is a 0.1% growth for the producer price index, and the same figure for thecore PPI, which excludes the volatile food and energy categories.

In March, U.S. industrial production experienced the biggest drop in almost six years. The FederalReserve reported that industrial production dipped 0.6% last month, suggesting that the U.S.economy is going through a tough stretch. On Friday morning, the Fed will publish April's industrialproduction report and the median forecast for April's data is an increase of 0.3%.

Switching to Freddie Mac's latest published mortgage interest rate survey, the organization said onThursday, that the 30-year fixed mortgage averaged a rate of 3.80% this week, an increase of 12basis points compared to the prior week's data. The shorter-term, 15-year fixed mortgage came in at3.02%, a higher rate compared to the previous 2.94% that it had a week earlier.

With regards to current mortgage rates at U.S. lenders this weekend, at Bank of America(NYSE:BAC) the 30-year fixed home purchase loan is coming out at a rate of 3.625%. Those lookingto secure the 15-year conventional home loan, which features a fixed rate during the loan's term, canexpect to pay 2.750% interest cost.

BofA's home refinance loan portfolio includes thestandard 30-year fixed mortgage loan, which isavailable today at a rate of 3.875%. The bank'sshorter, 15-year fixed refi mortgage loan stands at2.875%.

Heading over to Chase (NYSE:JPM), amongconventional home loans borrowers can find thelong-term 30-year FRM, which currently carries3.750% interest cost. Mortgage shoppers, wholean toward the 15-year fixed home loan, will seeit being offered at a rate of 3.000%.

Under the lender's home refinance loan program, the 30-year refi mortgage can be locked in at arate of 4.000%. A shorter-term alternative, the 15-year FRM, is set at 3.125%, according to ourobservations.

The above mentioned interest rates are subject to change and are not guaranteed. In order to searchfor live mortgage rate quotes from some of the top U.S. lenders, please click on the link below. Tocalculate your monthly mortgage payment, feel free to use our featured mortgage calculator.

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