Gary Siegel

The Federal Open Market Committee apparently had a long discussion about whether or not to keep the phrase "considerable time" in its statement regarding how long it would keep the fed funds rate target zero lower bound after its asset purchase program was ended, according to minutes from its Oct. 28-29 meeting, released Wednesday.

The New York region's service sector activity "expanded briskly," according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's November Business Leaders Survey, released Tuesday.

Builders' confidence in the market for new single-family homes grew as the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index climbed to 58 in November from 54 in October.

Fears that highly accommodative monetary policy will lead to a surge in inflation are unfounded, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Letter release Monday.

Growth projections were lowered slightly by those responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's quarterly Survey of Professional Forecasters, and unemployment rate projections for the next three quarters were also revised down in the report released Monday.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed "business activity continued to expand for New York manufacturers," the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday, as the general business conditions index grew to 10.16 in November from 6.17 in October.

Business inventories rose 0.3% to $1.756 trillion in September, while sales were unchanged at $1.353 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

The University of Michigan's preliminary November consumer sentiment index reading was 89.4, compared to the final October 86.9 and the preliminary October 86.4, according to market sources.

Low inflation does not warrant keeping the fed funds rate target near zero, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard.

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota reiterated his belief that based on his outlook the fed funds rate should be steady in 2015.

Adjusting the perceived neutral rate of monetary policy need to be considered only "with great care and discipline," Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President and Chief Executive Officer Charles I. Plosser said Thursday.

Wholesale inventories increased 0.3% in September, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Wholesale sales grew 0.2%.

Consumers' view of inflation expectations were steady in October, 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 123.09 in October from an upwardly revised 121.91 in September, and is up 7.7% from a year ago, the group announced Monday.

U.S. inflationary pressures were higher in October, as the U.S. future inflation gauge grew to 105.9 from a revised September 104.8 reading, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

Newly issued Treasury securities held in stripped form decreased about $423 million in October to a total of $212.285 billion, the Bureau of the Public Debt reported Thursday.

The U.S. services sector expanded at a slower pace in October as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 57.1 in the month, compared to 58.6 in September, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday.

New orders for manufactured goods dropped 0.6% in September, after falling a revised 10.0% in August, initially reported as a 10.1% plunge, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

New York City business activity grew at its slowest pace in six months in October, as the current business conditions index dropped to 54.8 from 63.7 in September, the Institute for Supply Management-New York's Report on Business index, released Tuesday, indicated.

The costs of QE3 will exceed the program's benefits, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President and CEO Richard W. Fisher said Monday.