Martin Crutsinger

US consumers spent modestly more in October, but the small uptick suggests that they’re still wary of buying too much ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season.

Federal Reserve policy-makers discussed a variety of economic threats at their October meeting — from turbulent financial markets to overseas weakness — but decided to move forward with plans to end their landmark bond buying program.

Construction of new homes fell slightly in October after a big surge in the previous month, but the weakness was largely driven by the volatile apartment sector.

The U.S. economy powered its way to a respectable growth rate of 3.5 percent from July through September, outpacing most of the developed world and on track to extend the momentum through the end of the year and beyond.

The Obama administration said Wednesday that China’s currency remains “significantly undervalued,” but it stopped short of citing China or any other country for unfairly manipulating its currency to gain trade advantages.

The U.S. economy was strengthening in most regions of the country in September to early October, helped by gains in consumer spending, manufacturing and commercial construction, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest survey of business conditions.

World financial leaders on Saturday promised “bold and ambitious” action to boost a global recovery that has shown recent disturbing signs of weakness.