Logan airport prepares to celebrate passenger record

Boston’s Logan International Airport has set another passenger record.

Massachusetts Port Authority officials say they are preparing to celebrate more than 29.6 million passengers passing through the airport this year. New England’s largest airport handled 29.3 million travelers last year.

Massport projects that its 29.6 million traveler would be on Southwest Airlines Flight 5700 scheduled to leave Boston for Fort Myers on Friday at 10:15 a.m.

Number of unemployment seekers drops sharply

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week, though the drop likely reflected volatility around the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

The Labor Department says applications fell 42,000 to a seasonally adjusted 338,000. The less-volatile four-week average rose 4,250 to 348,000.

Lucky fliers score cheap flights in computer glitch

Some lucky fliers capitalized on a computer glitch Thursday and scored some really cheap flights on Delta Air Lines.

From about 10 a.m. to noon ET, some Delta fares on the airline’s own website and other airfare booking sites were showing up incorrectly, offering some savvy bargain hunters an incredible deal.

A roundtrip flight between Cincinnati and Minneapolis for February was being sold for just $25.05 and a roundtrip between Cincinnati and Salt Lake City for $48.41. The correct price for both of those fares is more than $400.

Trebor Banstetter, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based airline, said the problem has been fixed but “Delta will honor any fares purchased at the incorrect price.”

Freddie Mac announces mortgage rate increases

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan increased to 4.48 percent from 4.47 percent last week. The average on the 15-year fixed loan rose to 3.52 percent from 3.51 percent.

Mortgage rates peaked at 4.6 percent in August.

— From news service reports