WASHINGTON — Rates on 30-year mortgages, after falling steadily for a month, edged up slightly this week but still remained well below the levels of a year ago.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported yesterday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.12 percent, up from 6.11 percent last week.

All mortgage rates except the five-year adjustable-rate mortgage showed tiny gains this week, which economists attributed to conflicting signals from the economy.

"Mixed economic reports have kept mortgage rates from making any drastic changes this week," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac. He said that the government reported stronger-than-expected job growth and retail sales for November, but wage growth and consumer sentiment were both weaker.

Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, averaged 5.86 percent this week, up from 5.84 percent last week.

For one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, rates edged up to 5.45 percent, compared with 5.43 percent last week.

Five-year adjustable-rate mortgages were at 5.92 percent, the same as last week.

The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Thirty-year mortgages carried a nationwide average fee of 0.4 point, while the 15-year had a fee of 0.5 point, the five-year was at 0.6 point and one-year mortgages carried a fee of 0.8 point.

A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 6.30 percent. Fifteen-year mortgages stood at 5.85 percent, one-year adjustable-rate mortgages were at 5.15 percent and five-year ARMs averaged 5.77 percent.