Bond worries drag on stocks
NEW YORK, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. markets slid early Thursday with investors focused on Europe's ongoing debt crisis.
Newly appointed Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti assembled his cabinet Wednesday but bond yields on benchmark notes climbed above 7 percent. Yields on comparable notes in Spain also rose. The spread between French and German yields hit a euro-era high Wednesday of more than 2 percentage points.
The U.S. Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits dropped to a seasonally adjusted 388,000 for the week ended last Saturday, the lowest figure since April, just before the U.S. economic recovery faltered.
In late morning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 30.65 points or 0.26 percent to 11,874.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 7.11 points or 0.57 percent to 1,229.80. The Nasdaq composite index lost 14.92 points or 0.57 percent to 2,624.69.
The benchmark 10-year treasury note lost 2/32 to yield 2.005 percent.
The euro rose to $1.3521 from Wednesday's $1.3463. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 76.97 yen from Wednesday's 77.07 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index rose 0.19 percent, 16.47, to 8,479.63.
First-time jobless claims hit 7-month low
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- First-time jobless benefit claims declined by 5,000 in the week ending Saturday with 388,000 claims filed, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.
It was the sixth consecutive week initial claims have dropped with the figure the lowest it has been since early April.
The four-week rolling average for claims filed as of Saturday was 396,750, down 4,000 from the previous revised average, the department said.
The Labor Department said October's unemployment rate was 9 percent, down from 9.1 percent in September.
For the week ending Nov. 5, Michigan posted the largest increase in first-time claims with 3,106. Florida posted the largest decrease in first-time claims with 1,896.
Construction spending slides in Europe
BRUSSELS, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- The European Union's statistical office Eurostat said construction spending fell 1.3 percent in the eurozone in September compared with August.
The eurozone designates the 17 member states that use the euro as currency. In the full European Union, comprised of 27 member states, construction was down by 1 percent month-to-month, Eurostat said.
From a year earlier, construction outlays rose by 0.4 percent in the eurozone and 0.6 percent in the 27-member European Union.
In a state-by-state comparison, Eurostat said construction spending fell sharpest in France, down 5.8 percent, followed by Portugal, down 5.1 percent.
Construction spending rose the highest in Slovenia, jumping 7.8 percent, followed by a Poland, where spending on construction projects rose 4.1 percent.
Housing starts steady in October
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- New home construction in the United States dropped 0.3 percent in October compared with September, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
Housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 628,000, compared with a revised figure for September of 630,000.
The rate of privately owned housing starts, at 430,000, is 3.9 percent above the revised September rate of 414,000 housing starts.
Permits issued for privately owned housing units rose 10.9 percent month to month to an annual rate of 653,000. A year earlier in October, the annual rate stood at 555,000 permits.
Permits issued are an indicator of what direction construction starts might take one or two months down the road.
Completed housing projects in October were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 584,000, which is 5.7 percent below the revised figure for September of 619,000 and 2.8 percent below October 2010.
