The Labor Department reports new claims for unemployment benefits last week fell by 5,000 to 240,000. Continuing claims rose by 3,000 to 1.97 million and have been under 2 million for 17 straight weeks,
Freddie Mac reports mortgage rates are steady. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.93% this week, up from last week’s 3.92%. A year ago it was 3.43%. The 15-year fixed averaged 3.18% down from 3.20%. A year ago it was 2.74%.
Factory orders jumped 3% in June for the first gain after two consecutive monthly drops according to the Commerce Department. Economists expected a gain of 2.9% for overall factory orders. Analysts had anticipated the increase because of strong demand for Boeing aircraft. Airplane orders pushed up orders for durable goods to a revised 6.4% gain in June compared with the prior estimate of a 6.5%. Orders excluding transportation fell 0.2% in June while orders for nondurables fell 0.3%.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
