Labor/Economy

Sandy is still vexing parts of the Northeast with wind and rain, but it’s already time for preliminary damage estimates.

Despite the inclement weather along the eastern seaboard, the Bureau of Economic Analysis published new statistics on personal income and spending on Monday, and they were better than expected.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on Friday that U.S. real gross domestic product increased at an annualized rate of 2 percent during the third quarter.

The Chicago Fed reported on Thursday that its National Activity Index increased to 0.00 in September from -1.17 during August.

The Census Bureau reported on Wednesday that sales of new single-family houses were at an annualized rate of 389,000 in September 2012, which is 5.7 percent above the revised August rate of 368,000 and 27.1 percent above September 2011’s rate of 306,000.

Residential market indices are legion, and these days most of them are pointing toward a steady, if not overheated, U.S. housing recovery in most markets.

LPS reported on Monday that the U.S. mortgage delinquency rate rose to 7.4 percent in September from 6.87 percent in August, a month-over-month spike of 7.72 percent.

Existing home sales dropped 1.7 percent in September to an annualized rate of 4.75 million units, including both single-family and multifamily, according to the National Association, with August’s rate revised upward to 4.83 million.