Gary Siegel

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.

The Federal Open Market Committee will raise the fed funds rate target this year when “things settle down,” Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said Monday.

Existing home sales fell 4.8% to a seasonally adjusted 5.31 million-unit rate in August from a downwardly revised 5.58 million pace the previous month, the National Association of Realtors announced Monday.

The composite index of Leading Economic Indicators was up 0.1% in August following a flat reading in July, first reported as a 0.2% decline, the Conference Board reported Friday.

The region's manufacturing sector slowed in September, as the general business conditions index slumped to negative 6.0 from positive 8.3 in August, this month's Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.

Builders’ confidence in the market for new single-family homes was higher as the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index rose to 62 in September from 61 in August.

The New York region’s service sector activity “continued to expand modestly,” according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s September Business Leaders Survey, released Wednesday.

The federal government ran a $64.4 billion budget deficit in August, the Treasury Department reported Friday.

The University of Michigan's preliminary September consumer sentiment index reading was 85.7, compared to the final August 91.9, and the preliminary August 92.9, according to market sources.

“[L]abor market conditions continue to improve” as the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Labor Market Conditions Indicators (LMCI) narrowed to negative 0.12 in August from negative 0.23 in July, according to the Bank.

Consumer credit increased by $19.1 billion in July to $3.453 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday.

The Federal Reserve's Labor Market Conditions Index, a compilation of 19 labor market measures, rose to 2.1 in August from a revised 1.8 in July.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (ETI) climbed to 128.82 in August from a downwardly revised 127.64 in July, and is up 4.5% from a year ago, the group announced Monday.

U.S. inflationary pressures were up in August, as the U.S. future inflation gauge grew to 101.9 from an unrevised July 101.2 reading, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

The U.S. services sector expanded at a slower pace in August as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 59.0 in the month, compared to 60.3 in July, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Thursday.

About 5,418,600 online job postings appeared on leading Internet job boards in August, an increase of 34,200 from July, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.