Gary Siegel

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.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (ETI) gained to 121.29 in August from an upwardly revised 120.62 in July, and is up 6.4% from a year ago, the group announced Monday.

With "significant" labor market slack remaining, policymakers must be "patient" in removing monetary policy stimulus Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President & Chief Executive Officer Eric S. Rosengren said Friday.

U.S. inflationary pressures were flat in August, as the U.S. future inflation gauge remained 106.9 from the unrevised July 106.9 reading, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

With the economy progressing, not is the time to "reformulate" the Federal Open Market Committee's forward guidance, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President and CEO Loretta J. Mester said Thursday.

The U.S. services sector expanded at a faster pace in August as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 59.6 in the month, compared to 58.7 in July, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Thursday.

Private sector employment grew by 204,000 jobs in August, according to the ADP National Employment Report, released Thursday.

The European Central Bank announced its Governing Council cut interest rates 10 basis points on its main refinancing rate at its latest monetary policy meeting Thursday.

The Beige Book report shows expansion continued at a "modest" or "moderate pace," much like the recent reports.

New orders for manufactured goods surged 10.5% in July, after climbing a revised 1.5% in June, originally reported as a 1.1% increase, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

New York City business activity grew at a slower pace in August, as the current business conditions index slumped to 57.1 from 68.1 in July, the Institute for Supply Management-New York's Report on Business index, released Wednesday, indicated.

According to the ISM's monthly report on business, the ISM index gained to 59.0 in August from 57.1 in July.

Construction spending grew 1.8% in July, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, and is 8.2% above the July 2013 level.

The University of Michigan's final August consumer sentiment index reading was 82.5, compared to the preliminary August 79.2, and the final July 81.8, according to market sources.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer surged to 64.3 in August from 52.6 in July, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Friday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business fell to 59.6 in August from 63.9 in July, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Friday.