Gary Siegel

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said he wants the Fed to hold off on liftoff until it is clear that the economy will grow after rate hikes.

Sales of new single-family homes grew 18.0% to a 504,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in August, according to data released by the Commerce Department Wednesday.

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

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region "continued to grow at a moderate pace" in September, according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index rose to 14 in September from 12 in August.

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia president and chief executive officer Charles I. Plosser announced Monday he will retire effective March 1, 2015.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for August dropped to negative 0.21 from a revised positive 0.26 reading in July, while the three-month moving average (CFNAI-MA3) fell to 0.07 from a revised 0.20 in July, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Monday.

The composite index of Leading Economic Indicators was up 0.2% in August following a revised 1.1% increase in July, first reported as a 0.9% climb, the Conference Board reported Friday

The Federal Open Market Committee's plan to not sell agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) was criticized by Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker.

The region's manufacturing sector expanded at a slower pace in September, as the general business conditions index slipped to 22.5 from 28.0 in August, this month's Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.

The Federal Open Market Committee released policy normalization plans that begin with raising the fed funds rate and adjusting the rate by changing the rates it pays on excess reserve balances.

The Federal Open Market Committee continued tapering and held interest rates at a zero to 0.25% range, leaving in the phrase about expecting them to remain there for a “considerable time,” it announced Wednesday after its two-day meeting.

Builders' confidence in the market for new single-family homes grew as the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index climbed to 59 in September from 55 in August.

Chief executive officers' expectations for capital expenditures, hiring and sales fell in the third quarter of 2014, as measured by the Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Index, released Tuesday.

The New York region's service sector activity leveled off, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's September Business Leaders Survey, released Tuesday.

The producer price index was unchanged in August on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the core rate, which excludes food and energy rose 0.1%, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed conditions "expanded at a robust pace for New York manufacturers," the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday as the general business conditions index soared to "a multiyear high" of 27.54 in September from 14.69 in August.

Business inventories rose 0.4% to $1.750 trillion in July, while sales increased 0.8% to $1.360 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

The University of Michigan's preliminary September consumer sentiment index reading was 84.6, compared to the final August 82.5 and the preliminary August 79.2, according to market sources.

Wholesale inventories increased 0.1% in July, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The public expects monetary policy to be more accommodative than Federal Open Market Committee members do, and the public doesn't fully weight the import of data, according to Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco researchers.