Housing Starts Slow; Jobless Claims Higher
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Reports showing a slide in housing starts and a persistently high number of workers seeking unemployment aid strengthened signals that the economic recovery is stuck in the slow lane.
Housing starts fell 2.2% in August, their third monthly decline in a row, the Commerce Department reported. The housing sector, while still at historically high levels, lost more steam than analysts were expecting.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said first-time applications for jobless insurance stood at 424,000 in the week ended Sept. 14. The four-week average of initial claims, a less volatile measure of employment conditions, rose to its highest level since May.
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