Most cities in the U.S saw gains in the median price of single-family homes sold during the three months that ended Sept. 30

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

The prolonged period of pain in the housing market seems to be easing, at least temporarily anyway.

Most cities in the U.S saw gains in the median price of single-family homes sold during the three months that ended Sept. 30, according to the National Association of Realtors' quarterly report on home prices. This is the second consecutive quarter of gains.

The national median home price was $177,900 in the third quarter, up $7,000 from the previous quarter. And while that was still down more than 11% from the third quarter of 2008, the pace of decline is slowing. In the second quarter of 2009, home prices fell more than 15% from the same period last year. Keep reading

Gas prices are down for a fourth consecutive day

Gene Bloch
Managing Editor
CNN New York

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....for news on the economy.

Just when one report seems to offer a glimmer of hope, we receive a stark reminder that recovery or not, people are still hurting and conditions are tough.

Housing serves as a good example of one big problem with a few silver linings; a new report by Zillow.com shows 21% of single-family homeowners carrying a mortgage were “underwater” on their loans (or owed more than the value of their home) at the end of the third quarter. Troubling as that news is, the proportion is lower than the 23% reported in the second quarter. And home prices, while still falling in many areas of the country, are slowing in their rate of decline, and places like Fayetteville, NC and Cumberland, MD saw healthy price INCREASES in the third quarter. Keep reading

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

The nation's unemployment rate rose above 10% for the first time since 1983 in October, a much worse jump than expected as employers continued to trim jobs from payrolls.

The reading is a sign of the continued weakness in the labor market - even though the economy grew in the third quarter following the longest and deepest downturn since the Great Depression.

The Labor Dept. said this morning that unemployment rate spiked to 10.2% last month, up from 9.8% in September. That’s the highest rate since April 1983.

There was also a net loss of 190,000 jobs in October. And while that’s worse than what economists were expecting and is still a big number – it is an improvement from the 741,000 jobs we lost in January.

The largest losses last month were in the construction, manufacturing and retail sectors.

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Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

Unemployed Americans are set to get up to 20 additional weeks of jobless benefits, while new homebuyers are poised to see the $8,000 tax credit extended into mid-next year.

The House approved the measures by a 403-12 vote this afternoon, one day after the Senate passed the legislation. The bill now moves to the White House for President Obama's signature.

The legislation would extend jobless benefits in all states by 14 weeks. Those that live in states with unemployment higher than 8.5% would receive an additional six weeks. The proposal would be funded by extending a longstanding federal unemployment tax on employers through June 30, 2011.

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AC360°

The Obama Administration has announced that 640,329 jobs have been created/saved as of October 30th due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Jobs created/saved are determined by what a company receiving Recovery Act funding reports through the contract, grant or project that they receive.

Check out Recovery.gov's map of what organizations are receiving money in your neighborhood...

Federal Reserve policymakers voted again to keep the central bank's key interest rate near zero, just one week after the government reported that the economy grew in the third quarter.

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

Federal Reserve policymakers voted once again today to keep the central bank’s key interest rate near zero. Ben Bernanke and Co. added in a statement that although the economy continues to improve, the Fed intends to stay the course – at least for a while.

The central bank’s decision came just one week after the government reported that the economy grew in the third quarter, the first gain in more than a year

While it was widely assumed that the Fed would leave rates in a range of 0% to 0.25%, economists and investors were eager to see how it described the economy in its statement.

And the Fed repeated language from earlier statements that economic conditions are “likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.”

The federal funds rate is a benchmark used to set the rates paid on a wide range of business and consumer loans, such as home equity lines and credit cards. It has been near zero since December 2008.

Also in focus, the nation's employment picture continued to deteriorate last month, although the rate of decline continued to slow, according to two reports out today.

Payroll-processing firm ADP said private-sector employers cut 203,000 jobs in October. It was the seventh month in a row that the number of job cuts fell from the month before.

In a separate report, the pace of announced job cuts slowed, but the number of cuts announced in 2009 will soon exceed last year's total.

Job cut announcements by employers fell to 55,679 in October, 16% fewer than in September, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. It was the third consecutive monthly decline.

We’ll get the government’s official snapshot of the labor market on Friday with the October employment report. Consensus estimates are for a loss of 175,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticking up to 9.9%.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing personal bankruptcies surged 9% in October, and we are now on target for the highest annual total in four years, according to a report issued today.

The American Bankruptcy Institute, an industry research firm that relies on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center, said 135,914 consumers filed for bankruptcy last month. Almost a third of the bankruptcies were filed under Chapter 13, in which consumers are put on a repayment plan of up to five years.

The group is also forecasting total bankruptcies will exceed 1.4 million in 2009, which would be the highest since 2005. It would also be an increase of at least 30% from last year.

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General Motors, Ford Motor and Nissan reported that their sales were up from a year ago.

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

It’s a busy day on the deal front, and it starts with Warren Buffet’s big bet on the future of the United States.

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is buying railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $44 billion, in what he characterizes as an "all-in wager on the economic future of the United States."

Berkshire, which already has major stake in the company, will acquire the remaining 77.4% of the company in a cash-and-stock offer worth $100 per share. Keep reading

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

CIT Group, one of the nation's leading funders of small and medium-sized businesses, filed for the fifth-largest bankruptcy by assets in U.S. history over the weekend as part of a reorganization plan that has the support of a majority of its debt holders.

Not to be confused with Citigroup, CIT is seeking quick approval of the prepackaged plan in bankruptcy court and said none of its operating subsidiaries would be affected by the filing, allowing them to continue operations.

In the bankruptcy filing, CIT said it had $71 billion in assets and $64.9 billion in liabilities. Only Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, WorldCom and General Motors had more in assets when they filed for protection.

CIT's position in the business world is crucial: it’s a top lender to women and minorities and it says it is the leading provider of “factoring,” a key element in the day-to-day financing of the retail industry. It’s also the nation's third-largest lessor of rail cars and the world's third-largest lessor of aircraft.

One company that did not seek bankruptcy protection this year or take any government bailout money was Ford Motor.

And today, Ford reported a surprise profit of just under $1 billion for the third quarter - helped by a bump in sales from the government’s “Cash for Clunkers” program, a reduced cost structure and problems at its rivals Chrysler and General Motors.

Ford said cost cutting during the past year and an improved outlook for sales leads the company to believe it will be "solidly profitable" in 2011 - the most bullish outlook Ford has offered investors since it started losing money in 2005.

Ford, along with the rest of the auto industry, reports sales figures for October tomorrow. And the post-clunkers hangover is expected to continue.

It’s also a very busy day on the housing and economic fronts.

The number of signed sales contracts to buy homes rose for the eighth straight month in September.

The National Association of Realtors said its September Pending Home Sales Index spiked 6.1% to the highest level since December 2006 as people rushed to take advantage of an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers.

It's estimated that between 200,000 and 400,000 additional sales will have been made because of that incentive. The credit lapses at the end of this month, and the housing industry is bracing for a major turndown in sales if Congress fails to pass some kind of extension.

Meanwhile, a key index of manufacturing activity jumped in October, reaching its highest level in three and a-half years.

The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose to a reading of 55.7 in October from 52.6 the month before. It was the highest reading since April 2006 when the index registered 56.

The monthly report is a national survey of ISM members, who are purchasing managers in the manufacturing field. Readings above 50 indicate growth, while levels below 50 signal contraction. Readings below 41.2 are associated with a recession in the broader economy.

The index first showed growth back in August after 18 months of contraction. It dipped slightly in September from the previous month, but has held above the level indicating growth for three months in a row.

And construction spending also rose in September as the increase in housing starts over the last few months has finally shown up in the residential construction numbers.

Follow the money… on Twitter: @AndrewTorganCNN

CNN Money

CIT Group Inc., one of the nation's leading funders of small and medium-sized businesses, filed for the fifth largest bankruptcy by assets in U.S. history Sunday as part of a reorganization plan that has the support of an overwhelming majority of debtholders.

In a statement, the company said it is asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York for a quick approval of the prepackaged plan. CIT said none of its operating subsidiaries would be affected by the filing, allowing them to continue operations.

"The decision to proceed with our plan of reorganization will allow CIT to continue to provide funding to our small business and middle market customers, two sectors that remain vitally important to the U.S. economy," said CIT (CIT, Fortune 500) chairman Jeffrey M. Peek.

In the bankruptcy filing, CIT said it had $71 billion in assets and $64.9 billion in liabilities. Only Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, Worldcom and General Motors had more in assets when they filed for protection.

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CNNMoney.com assistant managing editor Mark M. Meinero, reporter David Ellis and Fortune senior writer Colin Barr contributed to this report.

Much of the third quarter’s growth was driven by a rebound in auto sales, which were helped by the government's Cash for Clunkers program.

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

Have we finally turned a corner in this recession? New signs say “yes.”

We learned this morning that the U.S. economy grew at a better-than-expected 3.5% annual rate in the third quarter, ending a string of declines over four quarters that resulted in the most severe slide since the Great Depression.

The GDP report is one more indication that the economy has likely pulled out of the deep recession that started in December 2007.

Of course the reading by itself doesn't mark the end of the recession; the economy actually grew in the second quarter of 2008. And the National Bureau of Economic Research – the group which officially dates the beginning and end of recessions - is not expected to declare that the current recession has ended until sometime in 2010.

But the stronger-than-expected growth is likely to lead more economists to declare that the economy hit bottom earlier this year and turned higher at some point in the summer.

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