News in end use

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 221,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level.

Mortgage loan application volume decreased 10.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier, MBA reported.

In Q3, residential building construction costs increased 0.9% on a quarterly basis, following a 1.0% increase in the previous quarter.

The number of renter households in Q3 rose 2.7% year-over-year to a record 45.6 million, Redfin reported.

Private residential construction spending trended up 0.2% in September, the Census Bureau and NAHB reported. Year-over-year, construction spending was 4.1% higher.

Total construction spending during September was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,148.8 billion, 0.1% above the revised August estimate.

Nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged in October, adding only 12,000 jobs. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1%.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.72%, up from last week when it averaged 6.54%, Freddie Mac reported.

Personal income increased 0.3%; disposable personal income increased 0.3%; and personal consumption expenditures increased 0.5%.

The MBA Purchase Applications Payment Index decreased 0.8% to a reading of 157.9 in September, down from 159.2 in August.