NEW YORK (AP) — Stock indexes edged in higher Thursday morning as investors waded through data that offered a mixed picture of the economy.

A survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that manufacturing slowed in that region, one day after a similar report found that manufacturing was slowing in the New York area. Better-than-expected news on jobs and housing helped dull the impact of the report.

Construction of new homes grew faster than expected last month. The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits for the first time fell last week to 414,000, a decline from the previous week and more of an improvement than economists expected. Applications for unemployment have been over 400,000 a week since April, a rate that suggests job growth is still slow.  Read more