Gary Siegel

Various information will be used by the Fed to determine when to raise rates, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto said Thursday.

U.S. durable goods orders surged 2.2% in February, while excluding transportation orders grew 0.2%, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $35 billion of four-week bills at a 0.045% high yield, a price of 99.996500.

Service sector activity “grew modestly” in March, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region "remained soft" in March, according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index dropped to negative 7 in March from negative 6 in February.

The consumer confidence index increased to 82.3 in March from a revised 78.3 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

Sales of new single-family homes decreased 3.3% to a 440,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in February, according to data released by the Commerce Department Tuesday.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for February climbed to positive 0.14 from a revised negative 0.45 reading in January, while the three-month moving average (CFNAI-MA3) declined to negative 0.18 from a revised positive 0.02 in January, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Monday.

The newly announced Federal Open Market Committee forward guidance "weakens the credibility" of the Fed's "commitment to target 2 percent inflation" and increases policy uncertainty, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota said in explaining why he voted against the statement.

The region's manufacturing sector expanded at a faster pace in March, as the general business conditions index climbed to positive 9.0 from negative 6.3 in February, this month's Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Report on Business indicates.

The composite index of Leading Economic Indicators was up 0.5% in February following a revised 0.1% increase in January, first reported as a 0.3% climb, the Conference Board reported Thursday.

Initial jobless claims grew 5,000 to 320,000 in the week ended March 15, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Thirteen of the sixteen members of the Federal Reserve Board expect next year to be the appropriate time for policy tightening, with a range of expectations for rates between 0.25% and 3.00% at the end of 2015, according to the Fed's latest summary of economic projections, released Wednesday.

Groundbreaking for new U.S. home construction slipped in February, dipping 0.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 907,000 units as building permits surged 7.7% to an annual rate of 1.018 million units, according to Commerce Department data released Tuesday.

Builders' confidence in the market for new single-family homes grew as the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index rose to 47 in March from 46 in February.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed "business conditions continued to improve for New York manufacturers, though activity grew slowly," in March, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday as the general business conditions index rose to 5.61 in March from 4.48 in February.

The University of Michigan's preliminary March consumer sentiment index reading was 79.9, compared to the final February 81.6, the preliminary February 81.2, and the final January 81.2, according to market sources.

Business inventories rose 0.4% to $1.715 trillion in January, while sales decreased 0.9% to $1.303 trillion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

February import prices rose 0.9% and export prices grew 0.6%, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

Initial jobless claims fell 9,000 to 315,000 in the week ended March 8, the Labor Department said Thursday