WASHINGTON >> Average long-term mortgage rates rose slightly this week continuing a months-long trend of little movement. They remained under 3%.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported today that the average rate for a 30-year mortgage edged up to 2.88% from 2.86% last week. That’s very close to where the benchmark rate stood at this time last year, 2.90%. It peaked this year at 3.18% in April.

The rate for a 15-year loan, a popular option for homeowners refinancing their mortgages, increased to 2.15% from 2.12% last week.

Amid anxiety that the highly contagious delta variant could cause the economic recovery from the pandemic to stall, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday signaled its belief that the economy has recovered sufficiently from the recession for it to soon begin dialing back the emergency aid it provided after the virus erupted. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that the central bank plans to announce as early as November that it will start withdrawing the extraordinary support it unleashed 18 months ago.