Gary Siegel

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.

Commercial and industrial loan standards were little changed in the second quarter of 2015, although banks some terms, namely spreads and covenants, were eased for larger firms, according to the Federal Reserve's Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices, released Monday.

Construction spending increased 0.1% in June, the Commerce Department said Monday, and is 12.0% above the June 2014 level.

The overall economy grew for the seventy-fourth straight time, while the manufacturing sector expanded for the thirty-first consecutive month, the Institute for Supply Management reported Monday.

The University of Michigan's final July consumer sentiment index reading was 93.1, compared to the preliminary July 93.3, the final June 96.1, and the preliminary June 94.6, according to market sources.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer rose to 54.7 in July from 49.4 in June, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Friday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business climbed to 47.1 in June from 46.6 in June, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Friday.

The Midwest Economy Index slipped to negative 0.02 in June from an upwardly revised positive 0.20 in May, first reported as positive 0.17, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Friday.

Pending home sales decreased 1.8% to an index reading of 110.3 in June, after a revised 0.6% increase to 112.3 in May, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors.

Texas service sector activity "picked up in July," according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index gained to 19.1 from 13.2.

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

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region "increased moderately in July," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index improved to 13 in July from 7 in June.

The consumer confidence index fell to 90.9 in July from a revised 99.8 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, "declined slightly in July," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, released Monday.

The Federal Reserve inadvertently released staff economic projections, but not policymakers' views.

Manufacturing activity in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's region "declined again in July but less so than in previous months," according to the bank's monthly manufacturing survey, released Thursday.