"The job market is getting better and that's really key"
- Kevin Caron, market strategist at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co
The number of Americans claiming for unemployment benefits tumbled to 348 thousand in the week ended February 11 from 361 thousand the week before, said the Department of Labor on Thursday.
"The job market is getting better and that's really key. We're still in the early innings of this but I'm glad to see another data point that adds to the picture of an improving economy," said Kevin Caron, market strategist at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co in Florham Park, New Jersey.
In a separate report, the Census Bureau said housing starts increased 1.5 per cent to a 699 thousand annual rate in January from 689 thousand in December.
"The numbers are genuinely getting better," said Brian Jones, senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale in New York, who projected a rate of 700,000 starts. Multifamily home construction "has a ways to run. We should be seeing a pop in single-family starts by late spring."
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