First-time claims for unemployment insurance increased 4,000 for the week ended Aug. 18 to 372,000, the highest level in a month, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 365,000 initial claims. The prior week's total was revised up to 368,000 from the originally reported 366,000.

Existing homes sale rose to an annual rate 4.47 million in July, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. Economists had expected the sale pace to be 4.51 million. The increase 100,000 was less than half of the 250,000 drop in the sales pace registered for June.

First time claims for unemployment insurance edged up 2,000 for the week ended Aug. 11 to 366,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 365,000 initial claims. The prior week's total was revised up to 364,000 from the originally reported 361,000.

Despite continuing improvement in builder confidence, housing starts slipped in July to 746,000, with single-family starts accounting for decline, the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development reported jointly Thursday. On the other hand, housing permits improved to 812,000, the highest level in almost four years. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected 750,000 starts and 766,000 permits in July.

Builder confidence improved two points in August to 37, its highest level since February 2007, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported Wednesday. Economists had expected the index to remain flat at 35. The improvement in the index in August marked the fourth straight month-month gain. The overall index has gained 22 points in the last year, the largest one-year gain since February 1992. The August reading also marked the third straight month the index was more than double what it had been one year earlier.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell 6,000 for the week ended August 4 to 361,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 367,000 initial claims. The prior week's total was revised up to 367,000 from the originally reported 365,000.

Commercial banks eased standards for residential mortgage loans to meet a sharp increase in demand in the second quarter, the Federal Reserve reported Monday in its quarterly survey of bank lending standards. According to the survey results, a net 52.5 percent of bank officers responding to the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey reported increased demand for traditional mortgage loans in the second quarter compared with a net 30.2 percent reporting stronger demand in the first quarter.

The nation added a surprising 163,000 jobs in July but the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3 percent as the number of people working actually declined, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. At the same time, June's paltry job gains originally reported at 80,000 were reduced to 64,000 while May's job numbers edged up to 87,000 from 77,000.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance rose 8,000 for the week ended July 28 to 365,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 370,000 initial claims. The prior week's total was revised up to 357,000 from the originally reported 353,000.

Acknowledging economic activity decelerated somewhat over the first half of this year and growth in employment has been slow in recent months, the Federal Open Market Committee nonetheless decided Wednesday to take no new actions to stimulate growth. Concluding a two day meeting the FOMC instead said it would maintain its low interest rate policy and continue previously announced programs to reinvest proceeds of maturing Treasury securities it already holds and extend the average maturity of its portfolio.