The outlook for the U.S. economy brightened a little Tuesday after reports that consumer prices stayed tame and homebuilder confidence rose to the highest level in six years.

A third report showed factory output grew only modestly in September. Tuesday’s data showed:

•The consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in September, the Labor Department said. The increase was driven by higher gas prices. When excluding gas and food costs, prices rose just 0.1 percent.

•The National Association of Home Builders said its survey of builder sentiment rose to a reading of 41 this month, the highest level since June 2006. The index is still below 50, which indicates negative sentiment about the market. But it has steadily climbed over the past year from a reading of 17.

•The Federal Reserve said that output at factories, mines and utilities rose 0.4 percent in September after a sharp decline in August.

PNC net income rises as revenue jumps

PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s net income rose solidly in the third quarter, boosted by a one-time gain from a sale of Visa shares and higher fees from corporate clients.

The bank’s income from interest on loans increased, bucking an industry-wide trend, because PNC acquired RBC Bank (USA) since last year’s third quarter.

PNC said Tuesday that its net income available to common shareholders rose to $876 million, or $1.64 per share, in the quarter from $826 million, or $1.55 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

The quarter included a $137 million pretax gain from the sale of part of PNC’s investment in Visa. The company also set aside less money to cover souring loans – $228 million, compared with $261 million a year earlier.

PNC’s revenue jumped 15 percent to $4.08 billion from $3.54 billion a year earlier.

Net interest income, which combines income from interest on loans and the cost of interest paid to depositors and lenders, rose by 10 percent, to $2.39 billion from $2.18 billion.

Area home sales show slight gain

Area home sales rose 1.9 percent in September, a report Tuesday from the Upstate Alliance of Realtors shows.

Upstate, which tracks data from Allen, Adams, DeKalb, Huntington, Noble, Wells and Whitley counties, said 534 homes were sold last month, up from 524 in September 2011. The average September sales price of $133,645 is a 15.7 percent increase from $115,472 in the same month last year.

For the first nine months of the year, 4,913 homes were sold, up 10 percent from the 4,468 sold during the same period last year. The average sales price this year is $125,846, up 7.6 percent from the $116,980 average recorded for the same period in 2011.

GM to start production on hybrid Cadillac

General Motors said it will begin production of the Cadillac ELR, a two-door, plug-in hybrid that uses Chevrolet Volt-like technology, late next year.

GM will invest $35 million in its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant to build the new model, Mark Reuss, president of GM North America, said in a speech in Detroit. The factory already builds the Volt.

GM’s second plug-in hybrid follows the introduction of the Volt in 2010.