In the week ending June 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance was 271,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level, the Labor Department reported. The four-week moving average was 273,750, a decrease of 3,250 from the previous week’s revised average.

The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 4.02%, up from 4.00% one week ago, according to Freddie Mac. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 3.21%, down from 3.23% one week ago.

Thursday, the Dow lost 75.71 points (0.42%) to finish at 17,890.36, the NASDAQ was down 10.22 points (0.20%) at 5,112.19, and the S&P 500 decreased 6.27 points (0.30%) to 2,102.31. The Russell 2000 slipped less than one point (0.05%) to 1,283.28, and the Wilshire 5000 closed 66.64 points (0.30%) lower at 22,258.18.

On the NYSE, 3.2 billion shares changed hands, with 1.8 declining issues for every advancing issue. On the NASDAQ, nearly 2.9 billion shares traded, with a slight lead for decliners.

The price of the 10-year Treasury note was down 12/32, increasing its yield to 2.411%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond decreased 18/32, bringing its yield up to 3.177%.

ON THIS DATE: In 1819, the bicycle was patented by W.K. Clarkson, Jr. In 1945, in the Herbst Theater auditorium in San Francisco, delegates from 50 nations signed the United Nations Charter, establishing the world body as a means of saving “succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” In 1948, U.S. and British pilots began delivering food and supplies by airplane to Berlin after the city was isolated by a Soviet Union blockade. In 1979, Muhammad Ali, at 37 years old, announced that he was retiring as world heavyweight boxing champion. In 2002, WorldCom Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In 2003, Strom Thurmond, who served in the United States Senate for a record 46 years, died at his home in South Carolina. In 2012, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Nora Ephron, whose credits include “Silkwood,” “When Harry Met Sally,” and “You’ve Got Mail,” died at age 71 of complications from leukemia in New York City.

And now it’s time for FRIDAY FILES!

In Cape Coral, Florida, police and fire departments responded to a house that caught fire due to a lightning strike. As if that weren’t bad enough for the homeowner, once the fire was contained, as the house was being cleared, police found what appeared to be a mari.juana grow operation. The local NBC station reports this is the same home where lightning struck a boat, caught it on fire and destroyed it a week before.

In Hopkinsville, Kentucky, a man drove to the police station and slammed on his brakes before nearly hitting a cruiser. The Kentucky New Era reports that he approached officers and told them he was ready to go to jail for D.UI. He told police he drank a pint of alco.hol before driving to the station.

In St. Laurent, Montreal, Canada, an occupant of a third-floor apartment came home and discovered a hole in the roof of her kitchen. CTV Montreal reports that she went to the apartment owner, and the owner went back with her to the apartment to investigate. They found a tire had fallen off a Falcon 10 corporate jet aircraft operated by Club Jet Charter Jet Services that was flying over the home.

In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, three police helicopter pilots were on routine patrol and having a chat. The conversation turned personal, discussing s.ex and using inappropriate words. Then, they became aware the public address system from within the aircraft was turned on, according to CBC News. They turned it off, but not before people started posting on Twitter that they could hear the conversation coming out of the sky.

Somewhere in Chile, a 92-year-old woman had fallen and needed x-rays, according to NewsOXY. The results did not find broken bones but a 50-year-old fetus inside her abdomen. The large 4.4 pound calcified fetus was outside the woman’s uterus. Known as a lithopedion, sometimes called a “stomach rock” or a “stone child,” this rare occurrence can happen when the fertilized egg is implanted outside of the uterus (known as an ectopic pregnancy). Doctors will not be removing the fetus—the risk is too great, and the surgery can be dangerous, especially for someone at an advanced age.

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