Gary Siegel

Newly issued Treasury securities held in stripped form increased about $533 million in December to a total of $215.724 billion, the Bureau of the Public Debt reported Thursday.

The Federal Open Market Committee should raise rates very gradually, and Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President and Chief Executive Officer Charles L. Evans said Thursday he'd like the FOMC to follow the most accommodative path on the Summary of Economic Projections' "dot plot."

The decision to liftoff from zero lower bound rates was a "close call" for some Federal Open Market Committee voters, as "almost all" of the 17 participants believed conditions for a rate hike had been met, according to minutes of the December 15-16 meeting, released Wednesday.

About 5,407,700 online job postings appeared on leading Internet job boards in December, a decrease of 276,800 from November, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.

The U.S. services sector expanded at a slower pace in December as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 55.3 in the month, compared to 55.9 in November, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday.

Private-sector employment increased by 257,000 in December, on a seasonally adjusted basis, ADP reported Wednesday.

New York City business activity "expanded at a solid rate," in December, as the current business conditions index grew to 62.0, from 60.7 in November, the Institute for Supply Management-New York's Report on Business index, released Tuesday, indicated.

The overall economy grew for the seventy-ninth straight time, while the manufacturing sector contracted for the second month in a row, the Institute for Supply Management reported Monday.

Construction spending decreased 0.4% in November, the Commerce Department said Monday, and is 10.5% above the November 2014 level.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer declined to a six and a half year low of 42.9 in December from 48.7 in November, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business gained to 48.5 in December from 45.3 in November, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Thursday

Pending home sales decreased 0.9% to an index reading of 106.9 in November, after a revised 0.4% decrease to 107.9 in October, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors.

The Midwest Economy Index declined to negative 0.17 in November from an unrevised negative 0.14 in October, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Wednesday.

Texas service sector activity "increased again in December," according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index climbed to 15.2 from 10.3.

The consumer confidence index grew to 96.5 in December from a revised 92.6 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The November seasonally adjusted advance goods trade deficit was $60.5 billion, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, "increased for a third month in a row in December," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, released Monday.

The University of Michigan's final December consumer sentiment index reading was 92.6, compared to the preliminary December 91.8, and the final November 93.1, according to market sources.

Sales of new single-family homes grew 4.3% to a 490,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in November, according to data released by the Commerce Department Wednesday.

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