Mortgage loan rates edged lower this week after last Friday's weak September Jobs Report pushed Bond prices higher. Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed conventional rate mortgage ($417,000 or less) fell to 3.76% when paying 0.6 in points and fees. The no point rate is 3.91%. Mortgage rates continue to hover just above all-time lows ... last year at this time the rate was 4.19%.Americans filing for first time unemployment benefits hit a 42-year low in the latest week, signaling job growth continues in the U.S. Weekly Initial Jobless Claims fell by 13,000 last week to 263,000, below the 275,000 expected. The Labor Department said that figures from Nevada and South Carolina were estimated. South Carolina state offices were closed early this week due to the horrific rains and flooding in the region.A recent Wall Street Journal survey of U.S. economists shows that the economy is near full employment after struggling through the Great Recession in 2008 - 2009 and subsequent slow economic recovery and a weak labor market. Of those surveyed, 56% said that the U.S. will be in a state of full employment within the first half of 2016. The Unemployment Rate is now at 5.1%, down from the 10% recorded back in late 2009, at the height of the Great Recession.