Gary Siegel

Normalization of interest rates should begin, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard repeated Friday.

New orders for manufactured goods decreased 1.7% in August, after gaining a revised 0.2% in July, first reported as a 0.4% increase, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

New York City business activity “contracted for the first time in eight months,” in September, as the current business conditions index declined to 44.5, from 51.1 in August, the Institute for Supply Management-New York’s Report on Business index, released Friday, indicated.

U.S. inflationary pressures were down in September, as the U.S. future inflation gauge fell to 101.0 from an unrevised August 101.9 reading, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

With employment near its “natural rate” and inflation expected to “gradually” approach the Fed’s 2% target, interest rates should be raised before the end of the year, unless economic developments suggest otherwise, according to Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President and CEO John C. Williams.

The overall economy grew for the seventy-sixth straight time, while the manufacturing sector expanded for the thirty-third consecutive month, the Institute for Supply Management reported Thursday.

Construction spending increased 0.7% in August, the Commerce Department said Thursday, and is 13.7% above the August 2014 level.

About 5,280,200 online job postings appeared on leading Internet job boards in September, a decrease of 138,500 from August, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Business Barometer dropped to 48.7 in September from 54.4 in August, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business slumped to 39.4 in September from 47.7 in August, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Wednesday.

The Midwest Economy Index slipped to negative 0.12 in July from an upwardly revised negative 0.11 in July, first reported as negative 0.12, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Monday.

Private-sector employment increased by 200,000 in September, on a seasonally adjusted basis, ADP reported Wednesday.

The University of Michigan's final September consumer sentiment index reading was 87.2, compared to the preliminary September 85.7, and the final August 91.9, according to market sources.

Manufacturing activity in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's region “declined at a similar pace as in previous months, while expectations for future activity dropped considerably,” according to the bank's monthly manufacturing survey, released Thursday.

Sales of new single-family homes climbed 5.7% to a 552,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in August, according to data released by the Commerce Department Thursday.

U.S. durable goods orders slumped 2.0% in August, while excluding transportation orders were flat, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for August fell to negative 0.41 from a revised positive 0.51 reading in July, while the three-month moving average (CFNAI-MA3) dipped to 0.01 from a revised 0.02 in July, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Thursday.

The region's non-manufacturing sector climbed in September, as the general business conditions index increased to 29.3 from 15.4 in August, this month's Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.

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

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region “activity slowed in September,” according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index slipped to negative 5 in September from zero in August.