The average long-term mortgage rate rose this week to 6.34% from 6.3% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. In the following weeks however, mortgage rates began rising again, eventually reaching just above 7% in mid-January this year. Like last year, the Fed’s rate cut doesn’t necessarily mean mortgage rates will keep declining, even as the central bank signals more cuts ahead. Economists generally forecast the average rate on a 30-year mortgage to remain near the mid-6% range this year.