Initial unemployment claims fall

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Marketplace

News, Business

4.5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2024

⏱️ 1 minutes

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Summary

Stocks rise; new unemployment claims lowest level since September 2022; mortgage rates expected to fall further; housing starts tick down.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Marketplace Minute. I'm Justin Ho. Stocks closed higher on Thursday. The Dow
0:07.2	gained more than half a percent, the S&P rose almost 9 10 percent, and the NASDAQ
0:12.2	added 1 and a 3rd percent. The number of people
0:15.2	signing up for unemployment benefits fell last week to 187,000 according to the
0:19.7	Labor Department. That's the smallest number of new claims since September of
0:23.2	2022. The dip is another sign that even though the labor market is
0:26.9	loosening up, it's still pretty tight. The government-backed mortgage
0:30.9	corporation Fannie Mae thinks mortgage rates will fall below 6% this year,
0:35.0	that will drive up housing demand and therefore prices.
0:38.0	But Fannie Mae says new housing supply will help keep a lid on price increases.
0:43.8	But the number of new home construction projects fell in December from the month before,
0:47.6	according to the Commerce Department.
0:49.4	That said, housing starts were more than 7.5% higher than the same time last year.
0:54.8	I'm Justin Ho with the Marketplace placement Act. You're going to.

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