Blackstone Inc. has agreed to buy Bluerock Residential Growth REIT Inc. in a deal valued at $3.6 billion, extending its push into U.S. rental housing.

There are 15.3 million 529 plan accounts with total assets of $464.3 billion, an average account value of $30,287.

Blackstone Inc. is in advanced talks to acquire a 49% stake in One Manhattan West that values the skyscraper at $2.85 billion from a venture led by Brookfield Asset Management.

Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, inched up by 18,000 to 206,000 for the week ended Dec. 11 from a revised 188,000—the lowest level in 52 years. New jobless claims have been steadily declining throughout the year.

Landlords filled up 17 million square feet of additional real-estate space in open-air shopping centers last quarter, up 49% from 2019. The surge is propelled by increased foot traffic to grocery stores, curbside pickup and population shifts that favor suburban shopping.

Hard Rock International has agreed to buy the operations of the Mirage casino on the Las Vegas Strip from MGM Resorts International for nearly $1.1 billion with plans to build a giant guitar-shaped hotel on the glitzy boulevard.

An index of lithium prices doubled between May and November and is up some 240% for the year. The index is at its highest level in data going back five years.

U.S. inflation hit a 39-year high of 6.8% last month. Consumer demand and supply shortages continue to pressure prices.

U.S. employers posted 11 million open jobs in October, nearly matching a record high reached in July.

Puerto Rico’s hotel occupancy during the first 10 months of the year increased to 63.2%, compared with 33.7% for the same period last year. That is barely down from 65.3% in the same period in 2019.