Last week wasn’t kind to stock market investors, but weekly jobless claims fell to an unexpected low of 320,000 new jobless claims filed was its lowest level in nearly six years. Average mortgage rates were mixed, but inched upward.

Highlights of economic news from last week, include a survey of senior loan officers from U.S. and foreign banks doing business in the U.S. indicated that banks were gradually easing lending standards for business and consumer loans, but viewed lending criteria for home loans as more restrictive than other types of loans.

The past week brought encouraging economic news from several sources. The FOMC statement indicated that the Federal Reserve has not set a date for rolling back its quantitative easing program and ADP reported more private sector jobs added than expected.