Nation's unemployment rate dropped

Last Week in the News
reported in Metro Capital Mortgage site
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Employers added 51,000 jobs in September, less than half of the 120,000 positions analysts had expected, the Labor Department reported October 6. Despite the disappointing increase, the nation's unemployment rate dropped from 4.7% in August to 4.6% in September.

Service sector growth fell sharply in September to 52.9, down from 57 in August, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The ISM index was the poorest showing since April 2003 and far below analysts' expectations. A reading above 50 indicates economic expansion.

The nation's retailers, however, reported better-than-expected gains in September with the arrival of cooler temperatures and easing gasoline prices. The International Council of Shopping Centers' index of retail sales rose 3.8% in September. Kohl's reported a robust 16.3% gain in same-store sales (sales at their stores open at least a year) and Nordstrom registered a 13.4% rise in same-store sales.

Overall construction activity unexpectedly edged up 0.3% in August, the Commerce Department said October 2. While private home construction dropped 1.5% in August, the decline was more than offset by a 3.4% rise in nonresidential construction, the biggest one-month increase since a 4.1% gain in September 2005.

For the week ending October 6, interest rates on 30-year mortgages fell to a seven-month low, Freddie Mac reported. Rates have been headed lower as financial markets have become convinced that a slowing economy will keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates.

This week look for updates on the trade deficit on October 12.