An improved employment report pushed mortgage rates higher this past week even as rates maintained 60-year lows, Freddie Mac said Thursday. The average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage increased to 4.12% from 3.94% a week earlier and down from 4.19% last year. Meanwhile, the 15-year, FRM rose to 3.37% from 3.26% last week. Last year, the same rate averaged 3.62%. The 5-year, Treasury-indexed hybrid-adjustable-rate mortgage grew from 2.96% to 3.06%, while the 5-year ARM averaged 3.47%. In addition, the 1-year Treasury indexed ARM hit 2.90%, down from 2.95% last week and 3.43% last year. “An employment report that was better than market expectations helped to lift long-term Treasury bond yields and mortgage rates as well,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist and vice president for Freddie Mac. “The economy added 103,000 workers in September, aided by the return of striking Verizon workers. In addition, revisions to July and August figures added a total of 99,000 jobs to payrolls. However, these job gains are still not large enough to bring down the current unemployment rate of 9.1%,” he said. Bankrate also noted a jump in rates, with its 30-year, FRM hitting 4.37%, up from 4.21%. In addition, the 15-year, FRM jumped to 3.59%, while the larger jumbo grew to 4.9%. Adjustable rate mortgages also edged higher, with the average 5-year ARM increasing to 3.26% and the 10-year ARM hitting 3.89%. Write to Kerri Panchuk.