Gary Siegel

With a strong labor market and inflation on its way to 2%, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President and CEO Patrick T. Harker expects three increases in the fed funds rate target this year, he said Thursday.

Labor market conditions "declined modestly and momentum remained high in December," as the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Labor Market Conditions Indicators (LMCI) fell to 0.23 in December from a revised 0.28 in November, first reported as 0.25, according to the Bank.

Consumer credit increased by $24.5 billion in November to $3.750 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Monday.

Interest rates should increase gradually, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President and CEO Dennis Lockhart said Monday.

Consumer expectations on inflation "rose significantly from November, while medium-term inflation expectations increased slightly," according to the Survey of Consumer Expectations, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (ETI) fell to 129.96 in November from a downwardly revised 129.93 in November, and is up 2.2% from a year ago, the group announced Monday.

Monetary policy will have to normalize at a faster rate going forward, with rate hikes "still gradual but somewhat more regular," Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President & CEO Eric S. Rosengren said Monday

Newly issued Treasury securities held in stripped form increased about $41 million in December to a total of $233.866 billion, the Bureau of the Public Debt reported Friday.

U.S. inflationary pressures were down slightly in December, as the U.S. future inflation gauge declined to 113.0 from a downwardly revised 113.6 reading in November, first reported as 113.8, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

The U.S. services sector was steady in December as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 57.2 in the month, compared to 57.2 in November, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Thursday.

About 4,797,000 online job postings appeared on leading internet job boards in December, an increase of 74,000 from November, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.

"New York City purchasing managers shared a surge of forward looking optimism to end 2016," as the current business conditions index increased to 63.8 in December from 52.5 in November, the Institute for Supply Management-New York's Report on Business index, released Wednesday, indicated.

The overall economy grew for the ninety-first straight time, while the manufacturing sector expanded for the fourth consecutive month, the Institute for Supply Management reported Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business declined to 51.23 in December from 54.11 in November, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Friday.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer fell to 54.6 in December from 57.6 in November, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Friday.

The Midwest Economy Index slipped to negative 0.01 in November from a revised neutral reading in October, first reported as negative 0.01, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Friday.

Texas service sector activity "increased in December," according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index grew to 20.6 from 13.7.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, "activity increased for the sixth consecutive month in December," according to the monthly Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, released Tuesday.

Service sector activity "continued to be modest overall, except in the retail sub-sector where activity was strong," according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region "expanded in December," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, although the manufacturing index rose to 8 in December from 4 in November.