Gary Siegel

The overall economy grew for the fifty-fifth straight time, while the manufacturing sector expanded for the seventh consecutive month, the Institute for Supply Management reported Thursday.

Initial jobless claims dropped 2,000 to 339,000 in the week ended December 28, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Texas service sector activity strengthened in December, according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index grew to 16.0 from 11.4.

The consumer confidence index increased to 78.1 in December from a revised 72.0 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer dipped to 59.1 in December from 63.0 in November, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Tuesday.

The Treasury Department Monday auctioned $20 billion of four-week bills at a 0.005% high yield, a price of 99.999611.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were mixed, as the three-months incurred a 0.065% high rate, down from 0.070% the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.090% high rate, unchanged from 0.090% the week before.

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

Pending home sales grew 0.2% to an index reading of 101.7 in November, after a revised 1.2% decline to 101.5 in October, according to a report released Monday by the National Association of Realtors.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business grew to 54.3 in December from 52.1 in November, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Monday.

The Midwest Economy Index grew to 0.27 in November from an upwardly revised 0.23 in October, first reported as 0.22, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Monday.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it will auction $30 billion 91-day bills and $26 billion 182-day discount bills Monday.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it will sell $20 billion of four-week discount bills Monday.

Service sector activity "softened in December," according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region "continued to grow at a slightly slower pace in December," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, as the manufacturing index remained 13 in December unchanged from 13 in November.

Sales of new single-family homes decreased 2.1% to a 464,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in November, according to data released by the Commerce Department Tuesday.

U.S. November durable goods orders soared 3.5% in November, while excluding transportation orders rose 1.2%, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday

The Treasury Department Monday auctioned $20 billion of four-week bills at a 0.005% high yield, a price of 99.999611.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were mixed, as the three-months incurred a 0.070% high rate, up from 0.065% the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.090% high rate, unchanged from 0.090% the week before.

The University of Michigan's final December consumer sentiment index reading was 82.5, compared to the preliminary December 82.5, the final November 75.1, and the preliminary November 72.0, according to market sources.