Consumer Confidential: More discounts, cheaper mortgages, mucho Mentos

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Here’s your that’s-amore Thursday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

-- New jobs numbers are out. They tell us we still have a long way to go down Recovery Road, but we’re slowly moving in the right direction. New retail numbers are out too. They show consumers aren’t shopping till they’re dropping, which is bad for stores but might actually be good news for shoppers. The stats indicate that retailers are moving inventory only when they’re offering deep discounts. Bottom line: Expect more sale prices to woo you into stores.

-- It’s also getting cheaper every day to buy a house. Mortgage rates have skidded for a second week to the lowest level in half a century. The rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan is now averaging 4.57%, down from 4.58% last week. These are the lowest levels since the 1950s. With the unemployment rate so high, it’s not surprising that low-low-low mortgages have failed so far to spark a surge in home sales. But if you’ve been thinking about a refi for an existing loan, now may be the time you’ve been waiting for. Rates for 15-year fixed loans are now averaging 4.07%.

-- YouTube wants you to stick around. The Google-owned video site has introduced a new feature, dubbed Leanback. It features high-definition clips played back-to-back -- the idea being that you’ll kick back and let ‘em play, and the site in turn will have a greater opportunity to expose you to ads and maybe gather data about your interests. Ultimately, YouTube wants viewers to have the same experience they have with TV: a total couch potato-fest in which you’ll just sit and stare, mouth agape, as you’re served up an unending stream of video pleasure. That’s a lot of Mentos being plopped into bottles of Diet Coke.

-- David Lazarus