Gary Siegel

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed "business activity declined for New York manufacturers," the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday, as the general business conditions index plunged to negative 3.58 in December from positive 10.16 in November.

Narayana Kocherlakota, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis president, announced Friday that he will not seek reappointment when his term expires on Feb. 29, 2016.

The University of Michigan's preliminary December consumer sentiment index reading was 93.8, compared to the final November 88.8, and the preliminary November 89.4, according to market sources.

Business inventories rose 0.2% to $1.760 trillion in October, while sales were down 0.1% to $1.351 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Labor market conditions dipped slightly as the Kansas City Fed Labor Market Conditions Indicators (LMCI) fell to negative 0.50 in November from negative 0.45 in October, according to the Bank.

Wholesale inventories increased 0.4% in October, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

The Small Business Optimism Index rose 2 points in November to 98.1, its highest level since February 2007, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.

Consumers' view of inflation expectations held steady in November, with buyers expecting 3.0% inflation over the course of one year and three years, 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) gained to 123.24 in November from a downwardly revised 122.80 in October, and is up 6.1% from a year ago, the group announced Monday.

Gross domestic product should grow 2.1% this year and 2.7% next year, while inflation , as measured by the consumer price index, should be 1.8% this year and 1.7% next, with the unemployment rate sliding to 5.6% by the end of 2015, according to participants in the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's annual Economic Symposium.

Consumer credit increased by $13.2 billion in October to $3.279 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.

New orders for manufactured goods dropped 0.7% in October, after falling a revised 0.5% in September, initially reported as a 0.6% decline, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

U.S. inflationary pressures were lower in November, as the U.S. future inflation gauge fell to 104.7 from a revised October 105.7 reading, first reported as 105.9, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

Newly issued Treasury securities held in stripped form increased about $1.434 billion in November to a total of $213.719 billion, the Bureau of the Public Debt reported Thursday.

The European Central Bank announced its Governing Council held interest rates at its latest monetary policy meeting Thursday.

Economic expansion continued and the future outlook was termed "optimistic" in "a number of districts," according to the Beige Book, released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve.

Trends and the expectations for longer-term economic movements provide more insight than recent data when setting monetary policy, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President and Chief Executive Officer Charles I. Plosser said Wednesday.

About 5,253,900 online job postings appeared on leading Internet job boards in November, an increase of 170,200 from October, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.

The U.S. services sector expanded at a faster pace in November as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 59.3 in the month, compared to 57.1 in October, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday.

The Midwest Economy Index fell to 0.51 in October from a revised 0.46 in September, first reported as 0.51, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Wednesday.