Gary Siegel

Economic growth remained modest to moderate, according to the Beige Book, released by the Federal Reserve Wednesday.

Business inventories rose 0.2% to $1.752 trillion in August, while sales decreased 0.4% to $1.353 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed "business activity grew modestly for New York manufacturers," the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Wednesday although the "pace of growth slowed significantly," as the general business conditions index slumped from "a multiyear high" of 27.54 in September to 6.17 in October.

Expectations for median household income rose to a 16-month high of 2.9% from 2.5% in August according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's September Survey of Consumer Expectations.

Members of the Federal Open Market Committee decided the time was appropriate to disseminate information regarding normalization, and they also discussed current forward guidance and what was being implied about liftoff, according to minutes of the meeting, which were released Wednesday.

Again noting his discomfort with a raise rates sooner rather than later policy, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President and Chief Executive Officer Charles L. Evans Wednesday said liftoff shouldn't start until there is certainty the economy will be able to thrive without accommodation.

A mid-2015 liftoff on interest rates seems "reasonable" to Federal Reserve Bank of New York President and Chief Executive Officer William C. Dudley, who said Tuesday he expects to back ending the Fed asset purchase program when the Federal Open Market Committee meets on Oct. 28-29.

Noting that inflation below 2% "is just as much of a problem" as inflation greater than 2%, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota called on the Fed to set a "benchmark two-year time horizon" to get inflation to 2% and added it would be "inappropriate" to raise rates next year.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (ETI) gained to 121.68 in September from an upwardly revised 121.32 in August, and is up 6.1% from a year ago, the group announced Monday.

The U.S. services sector expanded at a slower pace in September as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 58.6 in the month, compared to 59.6 in August, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Friday.

U.S. inflationary pressures were lower in August, as the U.S. future inflation gauge fell to 105.0 from a downwardly revised August 105.9 reading, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

New orders for manufactured goods dropped 10.1% in August, after climbing an unrevised 10.5% in July, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

New York City business activity grew at a faster pace in September, as the current business conditions index gained to 63.7 from 57.1 in August, the Institute for Supply Management-New York's Report on Business index, released Thursday, indicated.

Initial jobless claims fell 8,000 to 287,000 in the week ended Sept. 27, the Labor Department said Thursday.

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

Construction spending declined 0.8% in August, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, and is 5.0% above the August 2013 level.

Texas service sector activity "improved notably in September," according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index gained to 26.9 from 21.0.

The consumer confidence index declined to 86.0 in September from a revised 93.4 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer slid to 60.5 in September from 64.3 in August, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business rose to 63.2 in September from 59.6 in August, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Tuesday.