Rates held steady Thursday as a batch of economic data had little impact on mortgage-backed securities’ prices. Weekly Jobless Claims spiked to 439,000, far above the consensus forecast of 380,000, as the distortions from Hurricane Sandy were much larger than expected. The October Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.1%, matching expectations, and was 2.2% higher than one year ago. The more closely-watched Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy components, increased 0.2%, above forecast. The Empire State manufacturing index came in at -5.2, which was stronger than expected. The Philly Fed manufacturing index came in at -10.7, far short of expectations. Readings below 0.0 indicate contraction in the manufacturing sector. No other key data will be released today.