MBA Mortgage Applications --
The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. declined for a fifth straight week, led by a drop in refinancing despite mortgage rates dropping to a record low. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index decreased 0.2% for the week ended Oct. 1. Refinancing fell to an eight-week low, while purchases increased by the most since April.
Challenger Job Cuts --
U.S. employers' announced job cuts totaled 37,151 for September. This marked the second lowest number for a month during 2010, a 7% increase from the 34,768 job cuts announced during August. So far for 2010, announced job cuts have been running 64% lower than the more than 1.13 million announced during this same point in 2009.
ADP Nonfarm Employment Change --
Automatic Data Processing announced in its monthly payrolls report today that the U.S. lost 39,000 private sector jobs in September compared to August. This number was above estimates of 18,000 expected. A loss of 45,000 jobs in goods-producing industries was offset slightly by 6,000 new jobs in services businesses, ADP reported.
On the a positive note, ADP announced that it revised the July to August report from an initial estimate of a decline of 10,000 to an actual 10,000-job gain.
Oil Inventories --
U.S. crude inventories showed a surprising build last week. Crude oil stockpiles grew by 3.1 million barrels to 360.9 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 1, compared with an average survey estimate of 300,000-barrel rise. This morning, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, reported a 4.4-million-barrel increase.
