Private U.S. housing starts in October came in an annualized rate of 1.009 million units, according to the Census Bureau.

Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes rose four points to 58 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

U.S. industrial production edged down 0.1 percent in October after having advanced 0.8 percent in September, the Federal Reserve reported.

Americans increased their retail and food services spending by 0.3 percent in October compared with September, according to the Census Bureau.

There were 4.7 million job openings on the last business day of September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

The Energy Information Agency is predicting lower oil prices next year, which on the whole would be a positive for the U.S. economy, though the agency also stresses the uncertainty involved in predicting prices.

The Pew Charitable Trusts released a report that quantified how difficult the recession and post-recession years were for the 30 largest U.S. cities.

The worldwide price of oil continued its fall with the international benchmark Brent crude coming in at $82.34, the lowest price in more than four years.