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StreetLinks Lender Solutions LLC has both a new division and a new product to show off.

Global DMS, a provider of Web-based compliant valuation management software, selected Patricia Rauch for a newly created role. Rauch wears the title of COO and will be responsible for overseeing the daily operations and management of the company, including system development, client services, finance, sales and marketing.

A preliminary report from Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan shows consumer confidence took a major hit to start December. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment fell to 74.5, a substantial drop from November's promising 82.7. The median forecast from economists polled by Reuters was 82.4. Richard Curtin, chief economist for the survey, said the decline stems from worries over Washington's apparent lack of progress in fiscal cliff negotiations.

Strong positive indicators in the housing market have Capital Economics revising its predictions on growth in 2013 and beyond.

The number of new improving markets observed by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) skyrocketed in December.

Superstorm Sandy blew a hole not in the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós labor market, but in economists├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ó crystal balls as the economy added 146,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent--the lowest level since December 2008--the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

GMH Mortgage Services LLC, headquartered in Newton Square, Pennsylvania, announced Joel Rose has come on board at VP of retail sales for the company's eastern division.

North Carolina-based FMI has released the results of its 2013 U.S. Markets Construction Overview, and the company is heralding more than $1 trillion in construction-put-in-place (CPIP) by 2014. Noting near-term projections, FMI stated that CPIP is anticipated to hit $826 to $884 billion to end 2012, with the growth rate remaining slightly ahead of gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates in 2013.

Out in Atlanta, Equifax Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Equifax Information Services LLC, has entered into an agreement to purchase certain credit services business assets and operations of CSC Credit Services, Inc., a subsidiary of Computer Sciences Corporation.

Continuing to show the recovery from Superstorm Sandy, first-time claims for unemployment insurance fell 25,000 to 370,000 for the week ended December 1, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists expected 380,000 initial claims filings. The previous week├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós report was revised upward to 395,000 from the originally reported 393,000.