Gary Siegel

NEW YORK – The U.S. economy is recovering modestly, and although in the past few months it has hit “the summer doldrums,” moderate improvement should continue, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President and Chief Executive Officer Charles I. Plosser.

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department today sold $25 billion 57-day cash management bills, dated Sept. 30, due Nov. 26, at a 0.130% high tender rate.

NEW YORK – Gross domestic product growth is seen near 2.4% in the second half of this year and around 2.5% next year for an average of 2.5% a year for the two years, predictions lower than those made last month by Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota.

NEW YORK – About 4,296,100 online job postings appeared on leading Internet job boards in September, up 57,900 from August, The Conference Board reported today.

NEW YORK - Mortgage loan application volume dipped 0.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis in the week ended September 24, and volume fell 1.0% on an unadjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $35 billion of five-year notes with a 1 1/4% coupon, a 1.260% high yield, and a price of 99.951690.

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region pulled back in September after expanding the previous seven months, according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

The consumer confidence index slipped to 48.5 in September from a downwardly revised 53.2 last month, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department auctioned $35 billion of five-year notes, with a 1 1/4% coupon, a 1.260% high yield, a price of 99.951690.

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $25 billion of four-week bills at a 0.080% high yield, a price of 99.993778.

NEW YORK – Chief executive officers have cut their projections for gross domestic product growth this year to 1.9% from 2.7% in an earlier survey, according to the Business Roundtable's third quarter 2010 CEO Economic Outlook Survey, which was released Tuesday.

NEW YORK – “Activity in the service sector remained weak in September,” according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released today, “A steep drop in big-ticket sales weighed down total retail sales, and shopper traffic continued to decline this month. Retail inventory depletion slowed, compared to a month ago. Revenues also contracted at non-retail services firms. Looking ahead six months, however, retailers expected demand for goods to pick up, and services providers anticipated solid demand for their services.”

NEW YORK – “Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region pulled back in September after expanding during the previous seven months,” according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. “The index of overall activity was pushed lower as shipments and employment edged into negative territory. Other indicators also suggested softer activity. District contacts reported that the volume of new orders flattened, order backlogs turned negative, and delivery times held steady. Furthermore, manufacturers reported growth in capacity utilization flat lined, while inventories grew at a slightly quicker pace.”

NEW YORK - The consumer confidence index slipped to 48.5 in September from a downwardly revised 53.2 last month, The Conference Board reported this morning.

NEW YORK – Retailers saw sales climb 0.4% in the week ended September 25, according to the ICSC and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index, as the month continues to swing back and forth between positive and negative sales.

The Treasury Department Monday auctioned $36 billion of two-year notes with a 3/8% coupon at a 0.441% yield and a price of 99.868724. The bid-to-cover ratio was 3.78.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Midwest manufacturing index dropped 1.4% in August to a seasonally adjusted level of 79.9, the Chicago Fed reported Monday.

Manufacturing activity in Texas, as measured by the production index, was better in August, according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, which was released Monday.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s national activity index declined in August to negative 0.53 from a revised negative 0.11 reading in July, which had originally been reported as zero. That compares with negative 0.56 in August 2009.

NEW YORK - The Treasury Department today auctioned $36 billion of two-year notes with a 3/8% coupon at a 0.441% yield, a price of 99.868724.