Gary Siegel

Builders’ confidence in the market for new single-family homes was unchanged as the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index remained at 58 in March.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed "business activity steadied for New York manufacturers," the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Tuesday, as the general business conditions index improved to positive 0.62 in March from negative 16.64 in February.

Consumers increased their expectations for inflation, according to the February Survey of Consumer Expectations, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday.

The federal government ran a $192.6 billion deficit in February the Treasury Department reported Thursday.

Small business optimism dropped in February as measured by the National Federation of Independent Business' monthly Small Business Optimism index, which fell to 92.9 from 93.9 in January.

The Federal Reserve is obliged to prevent future financial crises and even when monetary policy is zero lower bound the Fed is able to promote expansion, Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said Monday.

The Fed should be patient while the future outlook is cloudy, Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard said Monday.

The Conference Board’s Employment Trends Index (ETI) declined to 129.09 in February from an upwardly revised 129.15 in January, and is up 2.1% from a year ago, the group announced Monday.

U.S. inflationary pressures were up in February, as the U.S. future inflation gauge gained to 105.1 from an upwardly revised 103.4 reading in January, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

New York City business activity "expanded at the slowest pace in five months," in February, as the current business conditions index fell to 53.6, from 54.6 in January, the Institute for Supply Management-New York's Report on Business index, released Wednesday, indicated.

Texas service sector activity "continued to reflect expansion in February," according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index slipped to 9.7 from 10.0.

Construction spending increased 1.5% in January, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, and is 10.4% above the January 2015 level.

The overall economy grew for the eighty-first straight time, while the manufacturing sector contracted for the fifth month in a row, the Institute for Supply Management reported Tuesday.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, "contracted again in February," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, released Monday.

Pending home sales decreased 2.5% to an index reading of 106.0 in January, after a revised 0.9% increase to 108.7 in December, according to a report released Monday by the National Association of Realtors.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer dropped to 47.6 in February from 55.6 in January, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Monday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business gained to 55.2 in February from 50.4 in January, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Monday.

If policymakers from the major economies worked together, it would make monetary policy more effective, Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard said Friday.

Forward guidance is most effective if kept simple and explicit, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President and CEO John C. Williams said Friday.

The University of Michigan's final February consumer sentiment index reading was 91.7, compared to the preliminary February 90.7, and the final January 92.0, according to market sources.