Gary Siegel

The consumer confidence index gained to 83.0 in May from a revised 81.7 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

U.S. durable goods orders climbed 0.8% in April, while excluding transportation orders grew 0.1%, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

Sales of new single-family homes soared 6.4% to a 433,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in April, according to data released by the Commerce Department Friday.

The future looks bright following a gloomy winter that stalled real gross domestic product growth, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President and CEO John C. Williams said Thursday.

Manufacturing activity in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's region "expanded solidly, and producers' expectations for future factory activity remained at healthy levels," according to the bank's monthly manufacturing survey, released Thursday.

The composite index of Leading Economic Indicators was up 0.4% in April following a revised 1.0% increase in March, first reported as a 0.8% climb, the Conference Board reported Thursday.

Initial jobless claims surged 28,000 to 326,000 in the week ended May 17, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for April plunged to negative 0.32 from a revised positive 0.34 reading in March, while the three-month moving average (CFNAI-MA3) gained to positive 0.19 from a revised positive 0.04 in March, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Thursday.

The Federal Open Market Committee and the Fed Board of Governors discussed tools that could be used in the "eventual normalization" of monetary policy, although the talks were considered "prudent planning," not a sign of impending action, according to minutes of the FOMC meeting of April 29 and 30, released Wednesday.

Targeting price level rather than inflation should be considered by the Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota said Wednesday.

As inflation increases and more jobs are available, it may become necessary for the Federal Open Market Committee to start tightening rates "sooner rather than later," Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President and Chief Executive Officer Charles I. Plosser said Tuesday.

The Federal Open Market Committee is closer to achieving its policy goals than it has been since 2009, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said Friday.

The University of Michigan's preliminary May consumer sentiment index reading was 81.8, compared to the final April 84.1, and the preliminary April 82.6, according to market sources.

The New York region's service sector increased in May, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Business Leaders Survey, released Friday.

Groundbreaking for new U.S. home construction surged 13.2% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.072 million units as building permits spiked 8.0% to an annual rate of 1.080 million units, according to Commerce Department data released Friday.

The region's manufacturing sector expanded at a slower pace in May, as the general business conditions index slipped to 15.4 from 16.6 in April, this month's Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.

Builders' confidence in the market for new single-family homes fell as the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index slipped to 45 in May from a revised 46 in April, first reported as 47.

Initial jobless claims plunged 24,000 to 297,000 in the week ended May 10, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed "business conditions improved significantly for New York manufacturers," in May, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Thursday as the general business conditions index soared to 19.01 in May from 1.29 in April.

Businesses expect inflation to reach 1.9% in the next 12 months, unchanged from forecasts in April, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's most recent business inflation expectations survey for May.