Hi, I'm RJ Baxter with Intercap Lending with your tip of the week. I can't believe we're already past Thanksgiving. We're going into December and almost into 2024. Crazy how fast the year has gone by. And we've seen some encouraging things here recently with interest rates going down. Now, they just went down little bit, but it's an encouraging sign that they're maybe heading in the right direction. So I wanted to talk a little bit this week about why rates are starting to ease a little bit and why I'm encouraged going to 2024. So what's happened over the last three, four weeks is that we've started to get some weaker economic data. So one of the big ones is the employment data. We're starting to see chinks in the armor with the employment picture. 

Unemployment is ticking up a little bit higher, jobless claims a little bit higher, and when the jobs picture isn't as strong, that's a sign of recession. So we're not quite there yet, but we're starting to see some little signs that this kind of thing might be coming, that a weaker economy might be coming. And historically, in a weaker economy, interest rates tend to go down. The other thing that happened recently is that inflation data came in quite a bit lower than what was expected. And inflation is a thing that affects interest rates, because when inflation is high, interest rates tend to be high. And when inflation is lower, interest rates tend to be lower. And inflation, both inflation and employment are two of the big things that the Fed is looking at. 

One of the Fed's mandates is that they are striving to keep inflation low. And that's part of why they've been hiking interest rates. Their opinion is that by hiking interest rates, that's going to bring inflation down and bring that in check and help the economy. At the same time, they're looking at the jobs picture and they're trying to manage that and not have unemployment tick up too much. So, long story short, if this weaker economic data continues and we continue to get worse and worse readings heading into December and then 2024, my humble opinion is that it's likely rates will continue to trend down. Now, that being said, no one has a crystal ball, no one knows what's going to happen, and there's no guarantees about what's going to happen in the future. But those are just a few things I'm seeing. 

And you might have seen it in the news that interest rates are coming down. So I just wanted to talk a little bit about what I'm seeing and why that might be happening. So I hope that helps you out. Give me a call if you have any questions. I'm always here for you to answer your mortgage related questions or finance related questions. Once again, my name is RJ Baxter, Intercap Lending. Have a great rest of your weekend. Thanks a lot. 

RJ Baxter
Intercap Lending
http://www.cohomesandloans.com
303-670-0137
baxterteam@intercaplending.com
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