The Economy

Indicators: The Commerce Department reported housing starts for April. New jobless claims for the week ended May 4 were released by the Labor Department.

What they did: Construction of homes and apartment buildings rose a strong 6.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 957,000 units from 901,000 in March, which were down 9.2% from February. The number of people filing new unemployment claims rose by 4,000, up to 459,000 from the previous week’s 455,000.

What it means: Analysts said the housing industry appears to be on a modest recovery after two years of hard times. However, the rise in jobless claims means there is little evidence yet that a general recovery is beginning.

Highlights: Construction of single-family homes rose 5.7% in April after declining 6.6% in March. New apartment building construction rose 8.5% last month after a 19.1% drop the month before. There were a total of 3.53 million jobless claimants, according to the Labor Department.