Jobless Claims Jump to 6-Week High : Economy: But a survey shows consumer confidence rising after Bill Clinton’s election.

Bill Clinton’s election as President has inspired consumer confidence and could lead to a stronger economy within two years, according to two University of Michigan studies released Thursday.

Despite the uptick in consumer confidence, new claims for unemployment benefits jumped by 31,000 early this month and housing starts fell in October, the government said Thursday in reports seen as evidence of a temporary setback for the economy rather than a renewed slump.

The university’s consumer sentiment index rose to 83.6 in mid- November from 73.3 in October, reversing declines of the last 18 months.

And a national economic forecast predicted that the economy under Clinton’s leadership will grow by 2.7% next year and by 3.4% for 1994. That’s up from 1.8% estimated for 1992.

The consumer sentiment index is used by the Department of Commerce as one of its leading economic indicators. The October survey is released every year at the university’s annual Economic Outlook Conference.

Richard Curtin, director of the survey, told the conference Thursday that a key to a stronger economy will be sustaining the renewed gains in confidence.

Consumer sentiment for the last three years has followed a cycle of raised hopes and failed expectations, he said.

In October, 27% of all households surveyed said their financial situation had improved in the last year, the smallest proportion to report financial gains in the last 10 years, Curtin said.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing unemployment claims shot up to 386,000 for the week ended Nov. 7, the Labor Department said. It was the biggest increase in three months and the highest level of claims in six weeks.

Housing starts fell 1.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.23 million last month after rising in August and September, the Commerce Department said.

In October, an 11.8% plunge in the volatile apartment sector more than offset a modest 0.7% increase in construction of single-family homes.

Both reports were unexpectedly bleak, but they did not shake analysts’ belief that the economy is growing gradually and will continue to improve in President-elect Clinton’s first year in office.

Applications for building permits, which some economists consider a barometer of future activity, rose 1.1% in October after a 4.6% increase a month earlier.