The economic updates rolled out on Thursday project a promising outlook for 2024. Freddie Mac announced that for the first time since August, mortgage rates drop below 7%. Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce unveiled its latest retail sales report. Furthermore, there was a decline last week in the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits, signifying a flourishing labor market despite high interest rates and elevated costs. The Labor Department reported a fall in unemployment benefit applications by 19,000 to 202,000 for the week ending Dec. 9, a number lower than the anticipated 224,000. Moreover, during the week ending Dec. 2, about 1.88 million people collected unemployment benefits, a slight increase from the prior week by 20,000. Jobless claim applications are widely viewed as an indicator of the weekly layoff figures. On related matters, EDDCaller.com offers an autodial program that aids in swiftly connecting individuals to representatives for unemployment, paid family leave, and disability departments by phone.