Gary Siegel

New orders for manufactured goods increased 0.4% in July, after gaining a revised 2.2% in June, first reported as a 1.8% increase, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

New York City business activity "expanded at the slowest rate in five months" in August, as the current business conditions index declined to 51.1, from 68.8 in July, the Institute for Supply Management-New York's Report on Business index, released Wednesday, indicated.

Targeting low inflation, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President & Chief Executive Officer Eric S. Rosengren Tuesday suggested the Federal Reserve should wait to raise rates.

Texas service sector activity "continued to reflect expansion in August," according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index slipped to 9.3 from 19.1.

According to the ISM's monthly report on business, the ISM index decreased to 51.1 in August from 52.7 in July.

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

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, "was essentially flat in August," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, released Monday.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer slid to 54.4 in August from 54.7 in July, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Monday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business climbed to 47.7 in August from 47.1 in July, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Monday.

The Midwest Economy Index slipped to negative 0.12 in July from an upwardly revised neutral level in June, first reported as negative 0.02, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Monday.

Market volatility will play a role in the timing of liftoff, according to Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair Stanley Fischer, who noted, "we've got time to wait" before making a rate decision.

The University of Michigan's final August consumer sentiment index reading was 91.9, compared to the preliminary August 92.9, and the final July 93.1, according to market sources.

The Federal Reserve should not raise interest rates this year, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota repeated Friday.

Manufacturing activity in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's region "continued to decline moderately, similar to the pace of the previous few months," according to the bank's monthly manufacturing survey, released Thursday.

Pending home sales increased 0.5% to an index reading of 110.9 in July, after a revised 1.7% decrease to 110.4 in June, according to a report released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.

The region's non-manufacturing sector climbed in August, as the general business conditions index increased to 15.4 from 8.1 in July, this month's Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.

Service sector activity "continued to grow at a healthy pace in August," according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region "activity slowed in August," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index slumped to zero in August from 13 in July.

The consumer confidence index rose to 101.5 in August from a revised 91.0 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

Sales of new single-family homes climbed 5.4% to a 507,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in July, according to data released by the Commerce Department Tuesday.