Federal Reserve survey sees housing, manufacturing improving

A Federal Reserve Beige Book survey released today found that housing and manufacturing are driving the early stages of the economic recovery.

According to the survey, "many sectors" have either stabilized or improved modestly over the past six weeks. Both housing and manufacturing continued a "pattern of improvement that emerged over the summer."

The Fed reported that the weakest link in the recovery is commercial real estate. Consumer spending also remains weak.

The Beige Book survey reports anecdotal snapshots of economic and financial activity but does not include exact figures.