US jobless claims total 280K vs. 305K est; housing starts down 14.4% vs. up 1.05% est
September 18, 2014 at 08:31 AM EDT
Please check back for further updates.. Economists in a consensus survey expected weekly claims for state unemployment benefits to dip by 10,000 to 305,000. In a separate report, U.S. housing starts had been seen rising 1.05 percent in August. In early trading, stock futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street.