The average rate for 30-year fixed loans fell this week to 4.42 percent, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. It was the eighth time in nine weeks that rates have fallen to the lowest level since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971.

Investors fear the economic recovery is slowing. The latest sign came Thursday when the government reported a half-million people applied for jobless benefits last week, a nine-month high.

Mortgage rates are following the economic jitters. Rates track the yields on U.S. Treasurys. Those yields have lowered in recent months as more investors put their money into safer Treasurys.

Rates could fall to 4 percent sometime next year if the economy slips back into a recession, said Michael Moskowitz, chief executive of Equity Now, a New York-based mortgage lender with operations in six states.

"The economy is going nowhere for a very long time," he said.

The average rate on 15-year fixed loans dropped to 3.9 percent. That was down from 3.92 percent last week and the lowest on records dating to 1991.