Gary Siegel

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.

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

With inflation expectations falling, it would be "unwise" to keep raising the fed funds rate target, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said Wednesday night.

Inflation is "likely" to hit the Federal reserve's 2% target over the medium-term, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey M. Lacker said Wednesday.

Sales of new single-family homes fell 9.2% to a 494,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in January, according to data released by the Commerce Department Wednesday.

The Federal Open Market Committee needs to be patient and perhaps hold off on rate increases, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan said in an interview published Tuesday.

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

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region "slowed in February," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index dipped to negative 4 in February from positive 2 in January.

The consumer confidence index dropped to 92.2 in February from a revised 97.8 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

Existing home sales grew 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted 5.47 million-unit rate in January from a downwardly revised 12.1% increase to a 5.45 million pace the previous month, the National Association of Realtors announced Tuesday.

The region's non-manufacturing sector dropped in February, as the general business conditions index slid to 3.6 from 5.1 in January, this month's Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.