Market commentary

Not so good news from the employment front this morning as Initial jobless claims for last week rose from 385,000 to 412,000. The four-week moving average jumped to 396,000. Only three of the last ten jobless claims reports have been above 400k, the typical hurdle rate for most analysts which indicates an expanding or contracting labor market. Producer prices for the month of March were mixed this morning with the headline price rising 0.7% slightly less than expected and core prices rising 0.3%, slightly more than expected. As one would expect, the biggest increase in prices were overall energy costs, with gasoline prices leading the charge, rising 5.7%. The Treasury market rallied Wednesday in spite of a week 10 year note auction. Today the U.S. Treasury will auction $13 billion in 30-year bonds. Mortgage prices are slightly better today.