Labor/Economy

Proving itself to be the volatile indicator that it’s frequently asserted to be, the number of initial unemployment claims spiked upward for the week ending October 13th to 388,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The Census Bureau reported on Wednesday that housing starts jumped in September to an annualized rate of 872,000 units. That’s 15 percent more than the revised August estimate of 758,000, and a whopping 34.8 percent above the September 2011 rate.

The National Association of Home Builders reported on Tuesday that its housing market index edged up by one point in October to 41, meaning that the industry is more optimistic than at any time since June 2006, when the index was headed the other way in the face of the gathering storm in homebuilding.

The Census Bureau reported on Monday that U.S. retail sales for September were up 1.1 percent compared with August, and up 5.4 percent compared with September 2011.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the Producer Price Index for finished goods rose 1.1 percent in September. At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by manufacturers of intermediate goods rose 1.5 percent in September, and the crude goods index advanced 2.8 percent.

RealtyTrac reported on Thursday in its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for September that 180,427 U.S. residential properties suffered foreclosure filings during the month, a decrease of 7 percent from the previous month and down 16 percent from September 2011.

The latest “Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District,” more conveniently known as the Beige Book, was released on Wednesday and said that U.S. economic activity “expanded modestly since the last report.”