Gary Siegel

Construction spending rose 0.2% in March, the Commerce Department said, 8.4% above the March 2013 level.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer soared to 63.0 in April from 55.9 in March, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business fell to 47.3 in April from 56.0 in March, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Wednesday.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $25 billion of four-week bills at a 0.010% high yield, a price of 99.999222.

Texas service sector activity rose in April, according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index gained to 18.5 from 16.5.

The consumer confidence index slipped to 82.3 in April from a revised 82.9 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The Treasury Department expects to pay down $78 billion with its quarterly refunding, and end the quarter with a $130 billion cash balance, it announced Monday.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were lower, as the three-months incurred a 0.020% high rate, down from 0.030% the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.045% high rate, off from 0.050% the week before.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, "increased for the 12th month in a row in April," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, released Monday.

Pending home sales surged 3.4% to an index reading of 97.4 in March, after a revised 0.5% drop to 94.2 in February, according to a report released Monday by the National Association of Realtors.

The Midwest Economy Index fell to negative 0.02 in March from a revised positive 0.05 in February, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Monday.

The University of Michigan's final April consumer sentiment index reading was 84.1, compared to the preliminary April 82.6, and the final March 80.0, according to market sources.

Manufacturing activity in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's region "moderated slightly after rising to a two-year high in March, but producers' expectations for future factory activity climbed higher," according to the bank's monthly manufacturing survey, released Thursday.

U.S. durable goods orders surged 2.6% in March, while excluding transportation orders jumped 2.0%, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Initial jobless claims surged 24,000 to 329,000 in the week ended April 12, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Sales of new single-family homes plunged 14.5% to a 384,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in March, according to data released by the Commerce Department Wednesday.

The region's manufacturing sector expanded at a faster pace in April, as the general business conditions index climbed to 16.6 from 9.0 in March, this month's Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.

Initial jobless claims climbed 2,000 to 304,000 in the week ended April 12, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Initial jobless claims plunged 32,000 to 300,000 in the week ended April 5, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Current economic circumstances warrant a great deal of accommodation "for some time," especially given the "substantial and serious miss" on price stability, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President and Chief Executive Officer Charles L. Evans said Wednesday.