Gary Siegel

Liftoff could begin at any policy meeting, including June, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said in a televised interview Thursday, although he repeated his preference that normalization of rates should begin next year.

Non-farm productivity fell 1.9% in the first quarter, according to the preliminary data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Wednesday.

The Treasury Department announced details of its quarterly refunding, with plans to sell $16 billion 30-year bonds on May 14, $24 billion 10-year notes on May 13, and $24 billion 3-year notes on May 12.

Private-sector employment increased by 169,000 in April, on a seasonally adjusted basis, ADP reported Wednesday.

The U.S. services sector expanded at a faster pace in April as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 57.8 in the month, compared to 56.5 in March, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Tuesday.

Liftoff should be held until early 2016, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said Monday.

New orders for manufactured goods increased 2.1% in March, after dipping a revised 0.1% in February, first reported as a 0.2% increase, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

New York City business activity "accelerated" in April, as the current business conditions index increased to 58.1, from 50.0 in March, the Institute for Supply Management-New York's Report on Business index, released Monday, indicated.

Forcing the Federal Reserve to follow operational mandates would inhibit its freedom to go out of the box during crises, according to Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President and CEO John C. Williams.

The University of Michigan's final April consumer sentiment index reading was 95.9, compared to the preliminary April 95.9, the final March 93.0, and the preliminary March 91.2, according to market sources.

The overall economy grew for the seventy-first straight time, while the manufacturing sector expanded for the twenty-eighth consecutive month, the Institute for Supply Management reported Friday.

Construction spending decreased 0.6% in March, the Commerce Department said Friday, and is 2.0% above the March 2014 level.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer climbed to 52.3 in April from 46.3 in March, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business decreased to 48.1 in April from 53.3 in March, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Tuesday.

The Midwest Economy Index slipped to 0.39 in March from a downwardly revised 0.44 in February, first reported as 0.49, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Thursday.

Economic growth slowed during the winter, mostly due to "transitory factors" and inflation will stay low "near term," but rise toward the Federal Open Market Committee's 2% target over the medium term, according to the statement released by the FOMC after its policy meeting.

Pending home sales increased 1.1% to an index reading of 108.6 in March, after a revised 3.6% increase to 107.4 in February, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors.

Texas service sector activity "increased in April," according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index grew to 14.6 from 10.7.

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

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region "remained soft in April," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index narrowed to negative 3 in April from negative 8 in March.