Succinct Summation of the Week's Events

Succinct Summation of the Week’s Events:

Positives,

1)Initial jobless claims fell by a sharp 20k w/o/w to just 201k, well below the estimate of 225k. This brings the 4 week average to 217k from 225k in the week before and that’s the lowest since February. Continuing claims fell by 21k to 1.66mm which is the least since January.

2)The Mortgage Bankers Association said purchase applications to buy a home rose 2.3% w/o/w but is still down 26% y/o/y. Refi's jumped by 13.2% w/o/w which I can't explain.

3)Permits for multi family projects rose to 594k from 513k in July, 517k in June and also 594k in May but I question how many of these permitted projects get started anytime soon. Permits were up by 19k m/o/m to 949k which happens to be the most since May 2022.