First-time claims for unemployment insurance plunged 37,000 for the week ending January 12 to 335,000, the lowest level since January 2008, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to drop to 368,000 from the prior week.

Builders broke ground on new homes at the rate of 954,000 in December, a 12.1 percent jump over November and the most since July 2008, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Thursday. Applications for residential permits rose a modest 0.3 percent, and residential completions rose 1.6 percent. Rebuilding in the wake of superstorm Sandy contributed to the increase in total starts as activity in the Northeast jumped to a pace of 85,000 from 70,000 in November.

Economic activity expanded in the closing weeks of 2012, the Federal Reserve said in its periodic Beige Book released Wednesday, reflecting a slow but steadily declining unemployment rate and low rates of inflation--conditions the Fed said would have to be met before it raises interest rates. According to the Beige Book, districts reported stronger consumer spending--about 70 percent of the nation's GDP--with holiday sales ""modestly higher"" than in 2011. At the same time, the report said business contacts were ""citing concerns that consumers will spend cautiously due to ongoing fiscal uncertainty.""

Builder confidence stalled in January as the Housing Market Index (HMI) stood at 47, remaining at its highest level since April 2006, the National Association of Home Builders reported Wednesday. Economists had expected the index to tick up to 48.

Total retail sales rose 0.5 percent from November to December, the Department of Commerce reported Tuesday. The increase was twice the rate economists forecast.

President Obama opened a big hole in his White House by tapping Jack Lew to replace Timothy Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury, leaving empty for the moment the role of Chief of Staff. Meanwhile, it may take a while before the impact of the long-awaited Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rules on qualified mortgages will be felt. The CFPB heard the pleas of lenders and housing advocates to avoid taking steps to slow the incipient housing recovery.

The number of construction job openings dropped 6,000 and there were 11.5 available workers for open construction job, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey report.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance rose 4,000 to 371,000 for the week ended January 5, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected claims to drop to 362,000 from the prior week.

It may not have been a fiscal cliff, but how about a fiscal mudslide? The deal reached by Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and forced down the throats of House Republicans (without involving their leader, Speaker John Boehner) wound up to be a glorified version of kicking the can down the road--a short road, as the next ""crisis"" comes in just two months, when the nation runs up against the debt ceiling. Too many words have already been written about the crises manufactured by setting arbitrary deadlines.

The nation’s unemployment rate remained at 7.8 percent in December as payrolls increased 155,000, slightly ahead of consensus forecasts, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 150,000, slightly higher than the 146,000 increase in payrolls originally reported for November, and that the unemployment rate would remain at November's 7.7 percent.