30-Year Mortgage Rates Continue to Climb

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.58% this week, up from 6.53% last week and the highest since the week of June 20, 2002, mortgage company Freddie Mac said.

Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, climbed to 6.21%, up from 6.17% last week.

One-year adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 5.68%, up from 5.63%. Rates on five-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 6.21%, up from 6.16%.

The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Thirty-year and 15-year mortgages carried an average fee of 0.5 point. Five-year mortgages had a fee of 0.6 point, and one-year ARMs carried a fee of 0.7 point.

From the Associated Press

* First-time claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. rose last week while staying at a level that points to job growth. Initial jobless claims increased by 11,000 in the week ended April 22 to 315,000, the Labor Department said. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose to 308,500.