Misc: Mortgage Rate above 5%, House Vote on tax legislation likely later today

On mortgage rates from Tom Lawler:

This morning most major mortgage lenders were posting indicative quotes for a 60-day lock on a 30-year fixed-rate prime conventional conforming mortgage in the range of 5 1/8% and 1 point, reflecting the sharp runup in secondary mortgage market yields.

And some resources for following the House vote:
• U.S. House: Office of the Clerk. This is a running account of what is happening on the floor. Watch for H.RES.1766

Providing for consideration of the Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 4853) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 ...

• And a live video feed from the House (currently in recess in session)

While we wait for paint to dry ...
• From Mark Thoma: Initital Claims for Unemployment Fell Last Week. Why Should We Care? (see the 2nd graph for a relationship between initial claims and payroll employment)
• CoreLogic: House Prices declined 1.9% in October
• Housing Starts increase slightly in November
• Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims decline to 420,000

Graph galleries: House Prices, Housing Starts, and Weekly Claims