<p>Jonathan Corpina, senior managing partner with brokerage firm <a class="link" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.meptraders.com/" target="_blank">Meridian Equity Partners Inc.</a>, weighs in on Thursday's conflicting jobless claims, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index, consumer price index (CPI), as well as housing starts and building permits. </p><p>The Commerce Department said on Thursday that starts at building sites for homes fell 16.5 percent last month to a 853,000-unit annual rate, which was below analysts' expectations of a 945,000-unit rate. However,building permits rose 14.3 percent from a month earlier to an annual rate of 1.017 million, the highest level since June 2008. </p><p>Also on Thursday, the Consumer Price Index slipped 0.4 percent, the biggest decline since December 2008, as analysts had expected a more modest 0.2 percent drop.</p><p>The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index showed factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region fell to minus 5.2 in May from 1.3 the prior month, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said. </p><p>Initial claims for state unemployment benefits jumped by 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 360,000, the Labor Department said, which was the biggest jump since November.</p>
