Gary Siegel

Texas service sector activity "improved in June," according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index soared to 13.2 from 3.8.

The consumer confidence index rose to 101.4 in May from a revised 94.6 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer rose to 49.4 in June from 46.2 in May, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business slipped to 46.6 in June from 47.7 in May, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Tuesday.

The Midwest Economy Index slipped to 0.17 in May from a downwardly revised 0.28 in April, first reported as 0.29, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Tuesday.

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

Pending home sales increased 0.9% to an index reading of 112.6 in May, after a revised 2.7% increase to 111.6 in April, according to a report released Monday by the National Association of Realtors.

The University of Michigan's preliminary June consumer sentiment index reading was 94.6, compared to the final May 90.7, and the preliminary May 88.6, according to market sources.

Business inventories were up 0.4% to $1.793 trillion in April, while sales were 0.6% higher at $1.319 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The federal government ran an $82.4 billion budget deficit in May, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.

Labor market conditions "continue to improve" as the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Labor Market Conditions Indicators (LMCI) narrowed to negative 0.184 in May from negative 0.258 in April, according to the Bank.

Wholesale inventories increased 0.4% in April, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Wholesale sales surged 1.6%.

Small businesses were more optimistic in May as the National Federation of Independent Business' monthly Small Business Optimism index, published Tuesday, rose to 98.3 from 96.9 in April.

Consumers expect inflation to be slightly higher in the coming year, and median household spending growth to be off, according to the Survey of Consumer Expectations, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (ETI) climbed to 128.60 in April from a downwardly revised 128.10 in April, and is up 5.1% from a year ago, the group announced Monday.

Economic conditions should allow the Federal Open Market Committee to raise the fed funds target later this year Federal Reserve Bank of New York President and Chief Executive Officer William C. Dudley said Friday.

U.S. inflationary pressures were up slightly in May, as the U.S. future inflation gauge grew to 101.3 from a revised April 101.0 reading, first reported as 101.1, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

May layoff intentions decreased sharply to 41,034 from April's 61,582, Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday.

About 5,445,000 online job postings appeared on leading Internet job boards in May, an increase of 83,100 from April, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.

The U.S. services sector expanded at a slower pace in May as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 55.7 in the month, compared to 57.8 in April, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday.