Markets

Initial claims U.S. state unemployment benefits rose by 10,000 to 249,000 in the November 11 week, well ahead of the 235,000 level expected.

The New York region's service sector activity "expanded at a robust pace," according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's November Business Leaders Survey, released Thursday.

The Moody's downgrade comes amid large losses and higher capital spending.

The Illinois Tollway's $300 million deal and the first part of the Chicago Board of Education’s $922 million bond offering came to market on Wednesday. In secondary trading, municipals were stronger on the day.

The first part of the Chicago Board of Education’s $922 million bond offering came to market on Wednesday as the board’s $64.9 million of dedicated capital improvement tax bonds were priced.

Without tax-exempt private activity bonds, charters would have to turn to more expensive and restrictive capital sources.

Business inventories were unchanged at $1.889 trillion in April, while sales were 1.4% higher at $1.390 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

Two big deals from Illinois issuers are scheduled for sale on Wednesday as the Chicago Board of Education gets set to hit the market with the first part of its double-barreled offering and Illinois toll bonds are slated to be priced.

The value of retail sales rose 0.2% in October and were up 0.1% excluding motor vehicle sales.

The consumer price index Consumer Price Index came in exactly as expected, with a 0.1% rise for the overall reading and a 0.2% gain for the core reading.