Here’s a graph we plucked off the blog Seeking Alpha (which in turn got it from Calculated Risk) in the wake of yesterday’s reporting of September housing start data. The numbers, which showed a small uptick from August and a large fall-off from a year ago, came in well below consensus expectations, causing the blog to comment that, “While there is ample evidence that the world economy is starting to pick up steam, one of the traditional engines for driving the U.S. economy out of recession is sputtering.”