Jobless Rate Little Changed in February

Big news on unemployment: the unemployment rate stayed put at 9.7 percent in February, according to today's release from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That's a pleasant surprise. Economists expected the unemployment rate to rise to 9.8 percent, after winter storms in February kept many construction and retail workers home.

But if you are among the many people worried about hordes of unemployed borrowers falling further behind in their mortgage payments, potentially leading to millions of new home loan foreclosures later this year, then today's news provides little reassurance.