Highlights: Barring a surge in December, residential units authorized by building permits are likely to fall below the levels seen in the last downturn in the early 1990s.  Less than 100 single-family units were authorized in November, the lowest number for a month on record. . . Both sides of the labor market remain under pressure as job losses mount and hiring plans remain weak.  Initial claims for unemployment insurance are up more than 40 percent compared to the same month last year, and help wanted advertising has now fallen for 27 months in a row.  As of this writing, the latest report on the local unemployment rate had not been released, but it is expected to top 7 percent. . .  In the past, local consumer confidence responded positively to drops in the price of gasoline.  But that relationship is not holding this time around, as the negative news about the rest of the economy overwhelms the positive news of lower gas prices. . . The drop in the stock market continued in November, although the damage to local stock prices was not nearly as bad as what occurred in October. . . The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has declared the national economy in a recession, with economic activity peaking in December 2007.  Even though the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew in the first two quarters of 2008, the NBER based its determination on other factors, particularly the loss of jobs.  The national economy has lost jobs in each month of 2008, with a total of nearly 2 million jobs lost.  That weakness is finally beginning to take a toll on the GDP, with the growth rate in the third quarter being revised downward to -0.5 percent from -0.3 percent.  The national Index of Leading Economic Indicators may have foreshadowed the coming recession when it fell for six of seven months beginning in August 2007.

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