Mortgage rates showed improvement earlier in the week and then lost some ground yesterday when the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced that he was calling off a scheduled referendum on a proposed Greek bailout.

The markets are happy to hear that such a referendum cannot prevent the proposed bailout from occurring, which negatively affected rates. This does not mean that a resolution is guaranteed, but delays an immediate source of anxiety for the markets.

Employment Data Released

This morning, the Labor Department released October’s Employment report. The report showed that 80,000 new jobs were added to the economy last month,  a little short of expectations of around 95,000 jobs. The report showed that that 53,000 jobs were added to September’s final job count.

Finally, the report also showed that the U.S. unemployment rate slipped 0.1% to 9.0% last month with market expectations being that it would hold at 9.1%. The general consensus on the Employment Report is that it was neutral to negative, having little affect on mortgage rates.

Next Week’s Mortgage Outlook

Veteran’s day means a shortened week for bond traders on Friday. Apart from  consumer sentiment and jobless claims, there isn’t a lot of economic data coming out that could move mortgage rates, so any new developments relating to the European debt crisis have the potential to move the market.

Since rates are near all time record lows, now is a great time to see how we can help you lock in your rate and find the best mortgage program for your needs.