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The economy is recovering at a snail's pace --maybe a little slower. That's the message sent by the June jobs report released this morning.
Only 80,000 new jobs were added in June, the Labor Department says. That's slightly better than the May report but still disappointing, compared to when the economy added an average of 226,000 in the first three months of this year. From April to June, the economy gained an average of only 75,000 jobs per month.
The unemployment rate of 8.2 percent was unchanged, meaning there are still 12.7 million people out of work.
While disappointing, the news should help keep mortgage rates at bottom.
After the report was released, the yields on U.S. Treasury bonds edged down as investors sought safe investments. The yield, or rate of return, on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 1.56 from 1.60. Mortgage rates often follow the direction of the 10-year yield.
But rates already are so low. Is it possible they'll drop further? Having watched rates reach fresh lows, on Bankrate's weekly survey, 11 times in the past 13 weeks, I won't be surprised if rates drop lower after this report.
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