Gary Siegel

Existing home sales grew 2.0% to a seasonally adjusted 5.59 million-unit rate in July from a downwardly revised 5.48 million pace the previous month, the National Association of Realtors announced Thursday.

The economy continues to make progress, but it wasn't sufficient to warrant an interest rate hike, according to the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's July 28-29 meeting, released Wednesday, which also showed that one member was ready to vote for an increase, but would wait for more data.

Economists have mostly lowered their their expectations for GDP growth, according to the Survey of Professional Forecasters, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Friday, with the prediction for this year cut to 2.3% from 2.4% in their previous survey.

The University of Michigan's preliminary August consumer sentiment index reading was 92.9, compared to the final July 93.1, the preliminary July 93.3, and the final June 96.1, according to market sources.

Industrial production climbed 0.6% in July, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.

Labor market "level of activity improved while momentum declined but remained high" as the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Labor Market Conditions Indicators (LMCI) narrowed to negative 0.22 in July from negative 0.27 in June, according to the Bank.

The federal government ran a $149.2 billion budget deficit in July, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.

Monetary policy cannot offset skill mismatches that could hamper employment, according to Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley.

"I think the time to begin normalizing monetary conditions is close," Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President and CEO Dennis Lockhart said Monday.

Consumers' view of the economy was fairly stable in the past month, with inflation expectations remaining at 3.0%, and earnings and household income growth expectations largely flat, according to the July Survey of Consumer Expectations, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday.

The Federal Reserve's Labor Market Conditions Index, a compilation of 19 labor market measures, fell to 1.1 in July from a revised 1.4 in June.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (ETI) climbed to 127.89 in July from a downwardly revised 127.57 in June, and is up 4.4% from a year ago, the group announced Monday.

Consumer credit increased by $20.7 billion in June to $3.422 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday.

U.S. inflationary pressures were up in July, as the U.S. future inflation gauge grew to 101.2 from an revised June 100.8 reading, first reported as 100.5, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

About 5,384,400 online job postings appeared on leading Internet job boards in July, an increase of 83,700 from June, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.

The U.S. services sector expanded at a faster pace in July as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 60.3 in the month, compared to 56.0 in June, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday.

While the economy and labor markets are improving, Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome Powell said Wednesday he hasn't decided if he'll back an increase in short-term interest rates at the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

The Treasury Department announce Wednesday it will pay down $3.2 billion of debt with it quarterly refunding, selling $16 billion 30-year bonds, $24 billion 10-year notes and $24 billion three-year notes.

New orders for manufactured goods increased 1.8% in June, after falling a revised 1.1% in May, first reported as a 1.0% decrease, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

New York City business activity "expanded at the fastest rate this year" in July, as the current business conditions index increased to 68.8, from 63.1 in June, the Institute for Supply Management-New York's Report on Business index, released Tuesday, indicated.