Monday Market Forecast: Construction Spending, Jobs Report, and a Fed Announcement

Blog posted On October 31, 2016

Good Morning and Happy Halloween!  We are closing out the month strong with several positive reports in housing news and strong GDP increases.  Mortgage rates have been up and down this month, as much as a couple of tenths of a percent according to Mortgage News Daily.  This week we are looking ahead to construction spending, the ADP employment report, and a Federal Reserve Announcement.

National construction spending dropped 0.3% in July and again 0.7% in August, but market analysts believe these declines were temporary.  With other housing gains this month, we expect construction spending to stay steady into the end of the year.

The ADP National Employment Report measures the increase or decrease in private sector employment.  The national job market is a strong indicator of the health of the national economy, job growth stimulates spending.  Last month the ADP Employment Report depicted gains and we expect this month’s report to follow similar trends.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to make an announcement this Wednesday, following a two-day meeting.  Most economists agree that a federal interest rate hike is coming, but project this change to occur after the December meeting.  It is unlikely for the Federal Open Market Committee to raise interest rates on a meeting that is not followed by a press conference.

As we close out a strong month, we are looking forward to this momentum carrying the market into the end of the year.  Mortgage rates have not changed significantly since last week; we will check back in on Friday – nothing scary to report – yet!

Sources: MarketWatch, Reuters, ADP Employment Report, Mortgage Daily News, CNBC, US News