Mortgage rates went up this week, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large institutions.

The 30-year fixed-rate rose 8 basis points to 7.10 percent and the 15-year fixed-rate moved up 7 basis points to 6.70 percent. The one-year adjustable rate rose 2 basis points to 5.89 percent. A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percent.

When it comes to tracking inflation and interest rates, people can follow a wide variety of yardsticks. The yield on the 30-year Treasury Bond, however, reigns supreme as the simplest, most widely publicized gauge because Internet sites and nightly news broadcasts feature the direction of its movement prominently each day.

While changes in this so-called "long bond" yield don't influence mortgage rates directly, they do suggest whether market-watchers expect inflation to pick up in the months ahead. And when the yield climbs, that almost always signals that home loan rates will creep up as well.

That said, its movement of late has been downright horrible for mortgage hunters. On Monday, the yield climbed to 5.79 percent -- the highest level since June 9. This week's Bankrate.com national average rate, meanwhile, is at or above 7.10 percent for only the second time since last May.

A mortgage rate difference of less than 1 percent may not seem like a big deal. But it means a borrower looking to get a $100,000, 30-year fixed rate mortgage this week will pay about $672 a month in principal and interest. In early October, when the Bankrate.com national average rate stood at 6.46 percent, she would have paid only $629.

There's a host of reasons for market-watchers to be nervous about inflation. Economies in Asia and South America, which looked to be on the brink of disaster just a few months ago, now seem poised for a rebound, or at least less of a slump. Oil prices have skyrocketed in 1999, raising the cost of doing business and filling up at the pump. Stock prices and employment rates continue to surge, spurring consumer confidence and spending.

Add to that some technical factors -- such as the government's quarterly "refunding" this week, in which the Treasury Department auctioned off new bonds to replenish its coffers -- and you've got a recipe for disaster.

"The economy continues to do extremely well and many economists keep thinking inflation has got to rise," says Doug Pearce, an economics professor at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. "Whenever the economy is doing well, that tends to put upward pressure on interest rates."

The worst of the carnage may be over, however. Despite the recent bad news, government reports still don't show a sharp increase in either the prices consumers and manufacturers pay for goods and services or the wages companies dole out to employees. Until those price and wage pressures develop, the economy should continue to grow without meaningful inflation.

"People go broke predicting long-term interest rates" on bonds, Pearce says. "If I had to bet, though, I think that rates will probably edge up a little bit ... but I would be surprised if they went much beyond 6 by the end of the year."

The corresponding 30-year fixed mortgage rate would be just north of 7 percent.

The average monthly principal and interest on a $100,000, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to $672 and the payment on a 15-year loan moved up to $882.

The Bankrate.com National Index is based on a Wednesday survey of the 50 largest banks and the 50 largest thrifts in the 10 largest metropolitan areas in the country. These are averages. To find specific rates offered by lenders, go to our mortgage rate search engine.