Gary Siegel

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business slid to a contractionary 48.6 in February from 52.8 in January, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Thursday.

Initial jobless claims climbed 14,000 to 348,000 in the week ended February 22, the Labor Department said Thursday.

U.S. durable goods orders slipped 1.0% in January, while excluding transportation orders grew 1.1%, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The Treasury Department auctioned $35 billion of five-year notes, with a 1 1/2% coupon, a 1.530% high yield, a price of 99.856123.

Preaching patience, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President & Chief Executive Officer Eric S. Rosengren said Wednesday, the Federal Reserve needs to assess labor market slack before tightening monetary policy.

The Treasury Department Wednesday auctioned $13 billion of one-year 11-month floating rate notes with a high discount margin of 0.064%, at a 0.045% spread, a price of 99.962992

Sales of new single-family homes increased 9.6% to a 468,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in January, according to data released by the Commerce Department Wednesday.

Texas service sector activity cooled in February, according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index fell to 9.8 from 18.1.

Service sector activity "remained generally modest" in February, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region "slowed" in February, according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index dropped to negative 6 in February from positive 12 in January.

The consumer confidence index decreased to 78.1 in February from a revised 79.4 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $32 billion of two-year notes with a 1/4% coupon at a 0.340% yield, a price of 99.820762.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $35 billion of four-week bills at a 0.035% high yield, a price of 99.997278.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were mixed, as the three-months incurred a 0.045% high rate, off from 0.050% the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.075% high rate, unchanged from 0.075% the week before.

The Treasury Department said Monday it will sell $35 billion of four-week discount bills Tuesday.

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

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for January fell to negative 0.39 from a revised negative 0.03 reading in December, while the three-month moving average (CFNAI-MA3) declined to 0.10 from a revised 0.26 in December, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Monday.

While economists tend to agree monetary policy is "about right," they disagree on fiscal policy, according to a survey by the National Association of Business Economists.

Despite its decline as a result of labor for participation drops, the unemployment rate "remains as good an indicator of overall labor market health as it has been historically," Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President and CEO James Bullard said Wednesday.

The Federal Open Market Committee will continue to taper throughout the year, with asset purchases finished by the fourth quarter, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said Wednesday.