Mortgage Rates Fall to a Two-Month Low on Weak Jobs Report

Mortgage rates fell to their lowest level in two months, decreasing borrowing costs after a weak March employment report.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 3.66%, down from 3.7% last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday. The average 15-year rate declined to 2.93% from 2.98%, the McLean, Va.-based mortgage-finance company said.

The jobs report last week, which showed that employers in March added the fewest workers since December 2013, pushed down yields for the government bonds that guide mortgage costs. Federal Reserve policy makers last month were split over whether they would raise interest rates in June, minutes of their most recent meeting showed.

"The soft jobs report took the wind out of the sails of interest rates to some degree," said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com, a Riverdale, N.J.-based mortgage-data company. "Rates have been drifting lower in recent weeks because the economic news has not been that stellar."