The Economy: UP

Scanning the latest electrocardiogram readings on the heart of the U.S. economy, Commerce Department Economist Irving Rottenberg quipped: "The optimists are beginning to firm, and the pessimists are beginning to squirm." Items:

> Urban housing starts recovered from a deep slide in September to score a 17% rise in October, when they ran at an annual rate of 1,460,000 (see below).

>Personal income registered its biggest increase since April, climbed $2.1 billion in October to a record annual rate of $445.6 billion.

> New orders for durable goods followed their 1% rise in September with a 3 1/2% rise last month to a record $16.6 billion.

> Auto sale's during the first third of November were up 11% to an alltime high for the period. This, following October's record sales of 728,500 U.S.-made cars, inspired automakers to boost production schedules to 2,050,000 cars for the fourth quarter, more than they have ever built in any last quarter.

> Department store sales have risen for four straight weeks, are running 4% ahead of last year.

>The stock market took note of the good news; the Dow-Jones industrial average gained 13.87 points for the week to close at 644.87, highest since a week before Blue Monday.

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