Some great news on the national economy, courtesy Brian Cav and his Smarter Borrowing blog.

The Labor Department reports that January’s Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 1.4% while the core data reading rose 0.3%. Both of these readings were well above forecasts …

Wait, there’s more to that sentence?

… meaning inflationary pressures were stronger at the producer level of the economy than many had thought.

Oh, no.

Worse:

Mortgage Interest Rates are up .125% the past 48 hours and .25% on some mortgage products.

It’s not that bad when it comes to actual dollar amounts, however. On a $400,000 loan, your monthly payment would be $2,271 per month at 5.5% and $2,334 per month at 5.75%, a difference of $66.

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