Labor/Economy

Ahead of housing permit numbers from the government, which is a forward-looking indicator for the housing market, the National Association of Realtors reported that its forward-looking Pending Home Sales Index, which is based on contracts signed but not closed, dropped.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 28 states had unemployment rate decreases in October compared with September, while 11 states and the District of Columbia saw increases and 11 states experienced no change.

Zillow reported that one of the persistent hangovers of the housing bubble and the recession that followed, namely negative residential equity, dropped in the third quarter of 2012 to 21 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage.

The Federal Open Market Committee released the minutes from its Oct. 29-30 meeting, and one of the more closely watched subjects taken up in was tapering.

Probably with an eye toward his legacy, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke at the National Economists Club Annual Dinner in Washington, defending his actions as chairman and offering some reasons for the continued bond-buying program.

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes was unchanged in November from a downwardly revised level of 54 in October, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

The Census Bureau reported that the recession hit home values in more populous U.S. counties harder than smaller counties.

Aggregate U.S. consumer debt increased by $127 billion in the third quarter of 2013, the largest increase since the first quarter of 2008, according to the New York Federal Reserve.