Gary Siegel

Although Federal Reserve Board policymakers have not changed their statement regarding when they will raise the Fed funds target rate, investors have moved up their expectations of when the Fed will act, according to an economic letter by Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco senior economist Jens Christensen.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were higher, as the three-months incurred a 0.095% high rate, up from 0.040% the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.110% high rate, up from 0.060% the week before.

Consumers see earnings, income and spending growing quicker in the next 12 months, according to the Survey of Consumer Expectations, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday.

The Treasury Department said Monday it will sell $8 billion of four-week discount bills Tuesday.

The Conference Board's Employment Trends Index (ETI) gained to 116.61 in January from a downwardly revised 115.62 in December, and is up 6.0% from a year ago, the group announced Monday.

U.S. inflationary pressures were slightly higher in January, as the U.S. future inflation gauge climbed to 101.4 from the December 100.7 reading, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

Tapering will continue despite a January employment report that did not meet expectations, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher.

Labor market slack data show the U.S. economy remains "very far from historical average levels of labor utilization," and therefore monetary policy should stay highly accommodative, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President & Chief Executive Officer Eric S. Rosengren said Thursday.

Newly issued Treasury securities held in stripped form increased about $2.379 billion in January to a total of $207.035 billion, the Bureau of the Public Debt reported Thursday.

The Treasury Department said it will auction $50 billion 72-day cash management bills on Monday, Feb. 10.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it will auction $42 billion 91-day bills and $42 billion 182-day discount bills Monday.

Non-farm productivity rose 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the preliminary data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday.

Initial jobless claims dropped 20,000 to 334,000 in the week ended February 1, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The European Central Bank announced its Governing Council held interest rates at its latest monetary policy meeting Thursday.

The Federal Open Market Committee will continue cutting asset purchases by $10 billion each meeting and bring the QE3 program to an end later this year, according to Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart.

With the labor market improving, the Federal Open Market Committee should step up the pace of tapering its asset purchases and stop buying before the unemployment rate dips to 6.5%, "which is likely during the first half of the year," Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President and Chief Executive Officer Charles I. Plosser said Wednesday.

About 5,232,000 online job postings appeared on leading Internet job boards in January, a decrease of 56,800 from December, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.

The U.S. services sector expanded at a slightly faster pace in January as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 54.0 in the month, compared to 53.0 in December, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday.

The Treasury Department will sell $16 billion 30 year bonds on Thursday, Feb. 13, $24 billion 10 year notes on Wednesday, Feb.12, and $30 billion 3-year notes on Tuesday, Feb. 11, in its quarterly refunding.

Monetary policy needs to remain accommodative, as policy benefits continue to outweigh risks, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President and Chief Executive Officer Charles L. Evans said Tuesday.