Forget What You Know About The Payroll Count

Forget What You Know About The Payroll Count

Everyone's been talking about the ongoing change in the significance of the payroll number in the jobs report. OK, not everyone, but economists and bond traders for sure. The issue is the rapid shift in the size of the labor force as well as recent volatility in the multiple jobholder category, among other things. Specifically, the labor force has been shrinking since November and was already growing at a slower rate before then. That means it takes a lower NFP number to keep unemployment flat. More importantly, it means that NFP is no longer the be all, end all economic indicator. For decades, NFP has been the go-to number in the jobs report while the unemployment rate was an afterthought. Now, it's the complete opposite. That's why NFP can come in at 115k vs 62k today while unemployment is 4.3 vs 4.3 and bonds are just a hair stronger (never would have happened before these structural changes began).

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War Headlines Drive Mid-Day Reversal

MBS & Treasury Markets
UMBS 5.0
98.71
+0.07  
10YR TREASURY
4.371
-0.020  
5/8/2026 6:59AM EST
Everyone's been talking about the ongoing change in the significance of the payroll number in the jobs report. OK, not everyone, but economists and bond traders for sure. The issue is the rapid shift in the size of the labor force as well as recent volatility in the multiple jobholder category, among other things. Specifically, the labor force has been shrinking since November and was already growing at a slower rate before then. That means it takes a lower NFP number to keep...   READ MORE
Today's Mortgage Rates
30YR Fixed
6.44%
+0.00%  
15YR Fixed
6.00%
+0.00%  
5/7/2026
The day began on a fairly hopeful note for the mortgage market. During overnight trading hours, the bond market improved following a report regarding a peace framework sent to Iran by The U.S.  When bonds improve, rates fall, all else equal. The gains were modest, but they allowed the average lender to set their first rates of the day at slightly lower levels compared to yesterday. Lenders prefer a "one and done" strategy when it comes to setting mortgage rates for t...   READ MORE
Economic Calendar
Time Event Period Actual Forecast Prior
Friday, May 08
5:45AM Fed Cook Speech
8:30AM Apr Participation Rate Apr 61.8% 61.9%
8:30AM Apr Average earnings mm (%) Apr 0.2% 0.3% 0.2%
8:30AM Apr Unemployment rate mm (%) Apr 4.3% 4.3% 4.3%
8:30AM Apr Non Farm Payrolls (k) Apr 115K 62K 178K
10:00AM May Consumer Sentiment (ip) May 49.5 49.8
10:00AM May U Mich conditions May 52 52.5
10:00AM May Sentiment: 5y Inflation (%) May 3.5%
10:00AM May Sentiment: 1y Inflation (%) May 4.7%
11:05AM Fed Goolsbee Speech
2:20PM Fed Goolsbee Speech
7:30PM Fed Daly Speech
7:30PM Fed Goolsbee Speech
7:30PM Fed Waller Speech
7:30PM Fed Bowman Speech
Monday, May 11
10:00AM Apr Exist. home sales % chg (%) Apr -3.6%
10:00AM Apr Existing home sales (ml) Apr 4.05M 3.98M
10:20AM NY Fed Bill Purchases 1 to 4 months (%) $7.585 billion
1:00PM 3-Yr Note Auction (bl) 58