The Federal Reserve is targeting unemployment.
The Federal Reserve said in September it would buy $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities a month until the labor market rebounds. The goal: to free up banks to lend more.
It's the Fed's third attempt since 2008 to use this tactic, called quantitative easing.
Targeting the 8%-plus jobless rate, QE3, as it's known, is likely to hold down mortgage rates which in October hit a 60-year low of 3.36%.
The Fed also plans to keep short-term rates near zero through mid-2015, so get used to current savings yields (recently averaging 0.12%).
And if you're looking to beef up bond fund income, Morningstar Investment Management economist Francisco Torralba suggests short-term corporates, which yield about 2% today. Though the risk of inflation is low, he says, a spike would hit higher-yielding long-term bonds harder.
Related: Bond investing basics 
| Overnight Avg Rate | Latest | Change | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 yr fixed | 3.75% | 3.66% | |
| 15 yr fixed | 2.89% | 2.79% | |
| 5/1 ARM | 2.66% | 2.59% | |
| 30 yr refi | 3.74% | 3.64% | |
| 15 yr refi | 2.89% | 2.79% |
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