Gary Siegel

The composite index of Leading Economic Indicators was up 0.4% in July following an unrevised 0.3% gain in June, the Conference Board reported Thursday.

The region's manufacturing sector expanded in August, as the general business conditions index reversed to positive 2.0 from negative 2.9 in July, this month's Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.

The minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's latest meeting show a somewhat divided panel, with some voters seeing the need for a rate increase soon, while others want more evidence that inflation will rise.

Conditions may allow for at least one rate increase this year, if projections are correct, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said Tuesday.

Industrial production surged 0.7% in July, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday.

The New York region's service sector activity "declined significantly," according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's August Business Leaders Survey, released Tuesday.

Builders' confidence in the market for new single-family homes was higher as the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index rose to 60 in August from a downwardly revised 58 in July.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed "business activity in New York State declined slightly this month," the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday, as the general business conditions index slipped to negative 4.21 in August from positive 0.55 in July.

The University of Michigan's preliminary August consumer sentiment index reading was 90.4, compared to the final July 90.0, and the preliminary July 89.5, according to market sources

Labor market conditions were "little changed and momentum remained high in July," as the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Labor Market Conditions Indicators (LMCI) increased to 0.041 in July from a revised 0.027 in June, first reported as 0.015, according to the Bank.

The federal government ran a $112.8 billion deficit in July, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.

Small business optimism was nearly flat in July, with the index of small business optimism creeping to 94.6 from 94.5 in June, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.

Consumers decreased their expectations for three-year inflation while their projections for one year out held steady, according to the July Survey of Consumer Expectations, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday.

Noting he is not in a hurry to raise interest rates, Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome Powell said in an interview that below-target inflation, the Federal Open Market Committee "can be patient," according to a published report.

The Federal Reserve's Labor Market Conditions Index, a compilation of 19 labor market measures, rose to positive 1.0 in July from a revised negative 0.1 in June, first reported as negative 1.9.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (ETI) gained to 128.28 in July from a downwardly revised 127.89 in June, and is up 1.6% from a year ago, the group announced Monday.

Consumer credit increased by $12.3 billion in June to $3.634 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.

U.S. inflationary pressures were up in July, as the U.S. future inflation gauge gained to 112.6 from an unrevised 111.4 reading in June, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

New York City business activity "returned to cautious optimism after the short term pre-Brexit negativity seen in May and June," although the current business conditions index increased to 60.7 in July from 45.4 in June, the Institute for Supply Management-New York's Report on Business index, released Tuesday, indicated.

Monetary policy accommodation should be removed "in a gradual and patient manner," Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President and CEO Robert S. Kaplan said in Beijing Tuesday.