Sour reports Thursday on the number of people who sought unemployment benefits and buyers of new homes illustrate what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged Wednesday: Many factors weighing on the economy are proving to be more chronic than first imagined.

Applications for unemployment benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 429,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the biggest jump in a month and marked the 11th straight week that applications have been above 400,000. Elevated unemployment benefit claims signal a worsening job market.

New-home sales fell in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 319,000, the Commerce Department said. That's fewer than half the 700,000 that economists say must be sold to sustain a healthy housing market. Sales of new homes have fallen 18 percent in the two years since the recession ended. Last year was the worst for new-home sales on records dating back half a century.

Stocks tumbled more than 200 points after the weaker data on housing and layoffs were released. It came one day after the Fed lowered its outlook for growth and unemployment for the rest of the year.

But news of an agreement by the 17-country eurozone, the International Monetary Fund and Greece on a new austerity plan sent stocks higher midday, helping the Dow Jones industrial average recover most of its earlier losses. The Dow closed nearly 60 points for the day.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay $153.6 million to settle civil fraud charges that it misled buyers of complex mortgage investments just as the housing market was collapsing.

J.P. Morgan Securities, a division of the powerful Wall Street bank, failed to inform investors that a hedge fund helped select the investment portfolio and then bet that it would fail, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. Among the investors who lost money on the deal were autoworkers for General Motors, a Lutheran financial organization in Minneapolis, and a retirement services company in Topeka, Kan.

The settlement announced Tuesday is one of the most significant legal actions targeting Wall Street's role in the 2008 financial crisis. It comes a year after Goldman Sachs & Co. paid $550 million to settle similar charges.

Still, the settlement amounts to less than 1 percent of the bank's 2010 net income of $17.4 billion -- which is less than what JP Morgan earns in one week.

In its announcement, the SEC said it had also charged Edward Steffelin with misleading investors. Steffelin headed the team at GSCP, an investment firm that was supposed to have been selecting the portfolio of mortgage securities in the $1.1 billion deal.

The SEC alleged that Steffelin knew that hedge fund Magnetar Capital was directly involved in choosing the securities and that he was seeking a job with Magnetar at the time. Steffelin has not reached a settlement with regulators.

Stocks are opening mixed after European leaders failed to agree on releasing more financial aid to Greece.

In order to get the aid, Greece has to agree to more budget cuts, which has been causing unrest and political upheaval there. The Greek government faces a confidence vote on Tuesday.

If Greece defaults on its debt, it could trigger losses for the banks that hold Greek bonds, and economists worry it could shake the European economy and roil financial markets.

The S&P 500 is down a point in early morning trading at 1,270. The Dow Jones industrial average is also down less than a point at 12,001. The Nasdaq composite index is flat at 2,617.

Nabors Industries Ltd. fell Monday after it said lower-than-expected results in its pressure pumping, U.S. offshore and international businesses has hurt its operating income in the second quarter.

Nabors shares fell 62 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $23.41 in morning trading.

The Bermuda petroleum services company said it expects income before interest and taxes to range between $165 million and $170 million for the quarter. Analysts expected an average of $187 million, according to FactSet.

Nabors also said it expects full-year operating income to approach $900 million. Analysts expected $934.5 million.

Chairman and CEO Gene Isenberg said bad weather affected land-based operations in the U.S., including those covering the Bakken and Marcellus shale deposits. Nabors' international operation has dealt with rig upgrades, recertification efforts and civil unrest that delayed contract awards.

Its U.S. offshore business has been hampered by delays in getting permits, Isenberg said. "This situation is gradually improving, and we anticipate moderate profitability over the balance of the year and a return to more normal circumstances as we enter 2012," he said.