The FHFA said its goal is to nudge the housing market into higher gear by making mortgages a little easier to obtain. Travel on all roads and streets nationwide was up by 0.4 percent for August 2014.

Privately owned housing starts in September were 6.3 percent above the August figure. Consumer sentiment was up 1.8 points for mid-October. The rate of U.S. bank failures has slowed to a trickle in 2014.

After four consecutive monthly gains, builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell five points. Industrial production increased 1 percent in September. During the week ending Oct. 11, initial unemployment claims decreased by 23,000 from the previous week.

Southern California home sales hit a five-year high for September. But small businesses are a little less optimistic in October than they were in September.

Although open for business on Columbus Day, Wall Street suffered a down day. There has also been a persistent decline in international oil prices, ergo lowering gas prices as well.

The International Council of Shopping Centers forecasts that holiday retail sales will improve 4 percent this year compared with 2013. And FNC’s Residential Price Index increased 0.8 percent month over month.

The Federal Open Market Committee offered nothing conclusive about interest rates at its last meeting. The budget deficit plummeted by $195 billion compared to last year, and it’s the smallest deficit since 2008.

There were 4.8 million job openings on the last business day of August, up from 4.6 million in July. The U.S. household Debt Service Ratio came in at 9.91 percent in the second quarter, down from 9.96 percent in the first quarter. Worldwide economic growth is expected to average 3.3 percent in 2014, unchanged from 2013.

Black Knight Financial Services reported that 5.9 percent of U.S. mortgages were delinquent in August, up from 5.64 percent in July. And Americans’ daily spending dropped to an average of $87 in September, down from $94 in July and August.

The number of jobs created in September rebounded. Meanwhile, also in September, 2.2 million people were “marginally attached” to the labor force, about the same as a year earlier.