Gary Siegel

The sensible move is to raise the federal funds rate target by 25 basis points, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta J. Mester said in a televised interview Friday.

U.S. inflationary pressures were up in September, as the U.S. future inflation gauge gained to 113.1 from an upwardly revised 112.7 reading in July, first reported as 112.6, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

Newly issued Treasury securities held in stripped form increased about $1.5 billion in September to a total of $224.946 billion, the Bureau of the Public Debt reported Thursday.

About 4,722,300 online job postings appeared on leading internet job boards in September, a decrease of 93,800 from August, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.

The U.S. services sector climbed in September as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 57.1 in the month, compared to 55.5 in August, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday.

Private-sector employment increased by 154,000 in September, on a seasonally adjusted basis, ADP estimated Wednesday.

The University of Michigan's final September consumer sentiment index reading was 91.2, compared to the preliminary September 89.8 and the final August 89.8, according to market sources.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer rose to 54.2 in September from 51.5 in August, "recovering most of lost ground experienced in the previous month," the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Friday.

The Midwest Economy Index rose to negative 0.04 in August from a revised negative 0.16 in July, first reported as negative 0.14, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Friday.

Pending home sales decreased 2.4% to an index reading of 108.5 in August, after a revised 1.2% gain to 111.2 in July, according to a report released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.

Low interest rates will persist, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said Wednesday.

It is "unlikely" the Federal Reserve would adopt negative rates, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said Wednesday.

Texas service sector activity "increased in September," according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index doubled to 13.0 from 6.5.

Service sector activity "improved in September," according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region "continued to soften in September, but somewhat less so than in August," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, although the manufacturing index narrowed to negative 8 in September from negative 11 in August.

The consumer confidence index increased to 104.1 in September from a revised 101.8 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, "activity increased markedly in September," according to the monthly Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, released Monday.

By not raising the federal funds rate target threatens the economic recovery and creates imbalances that have led to recessions, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President and CEO Eric S. Rosengren said Friday.

Manufacturing activity in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's region "increased moderately" in September, according to the bank's monthly manufacturing survey, released Thursday.

The composite index of Leading Economic Indicators was down 0.2% in August following a revised 0.5% gain in July, the Conference Board reported Thursday.