Kyle Glazier

Two northern Virginian House Democrats have introduced legislation that would authorize the study of an expansion of the Washington Metrorail deeper into the commonwealth.

Sales of merchant wholesalers fell 0.8% to $415.4 billion in January, while inventories rose 1.2% to $504.4 billion, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Consumer credit climbed $16.1 billion, or 7%, in January to $2.795.3 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday.

The House approved legislation on Wednesday to fund the government after current authorization expires March 27, over the objections of transportation advocates upset that it would cut millions in highway and transit spending.

The U.S. international trade deficit was $44.4 billion in January, a 16.5% increase from the revised $38.1 billion deficit in December, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Three Senate Democrats wrote to House Speaker John Boehner, urging him to restore transportation funding cut in pending House legislation.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials expressed dismay Monday over a House bill for a continuing resolution to fund the U.S. government.

Moody's Investors Service has given its stamp of approval to Virginia's new transportation funding plan, saying that it is a credit positive for the commonwealth at a time when it is highly exposed to risk from federal cuts.

Construction spending fell 2.1% to a seasonally adjusted estimated annual rate of $883.3 billion in January, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Personal income fell $505.5 billion or 3.6% in January following an unrevised 2.6% increase in December, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Congressional staffers and finance experts speaking at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Washington Briefing said the outlook for highway funding is more uncertain than ever, while two transport-oriented lawmakers vowed to work across the aisle to make sure state and local officials have federal support.

Real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the preliminary estimate released by the Commerce Department Thursday.

Two Democrats in the Senate who influence transportation policy have introduced legislation to create the American Infrastructure Investment Fund, a $10 billion infrastructure bank.

Moody's Investors Service announced Wednesday that it has changed its outlook for the airport sector to stable from negative, where it had been since August 2008.

New orders for manufactured durable goods fell $11.8 billion or 5.2% to $217 billion in January, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

Maryland will sell nearly $700 million of triple-A rated general obligation bonds, and could come to market just days after sharp federal cuts hit the state.

Sales of new single-family houses rocketed 15.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 437,000 in January, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

The sequestration cuts scheduled to take effect March 1 could throw the muni market into uncertainty and slam the air transport sector, according to market groups and public officials.

The Virginia General Assembly gave final approval on Saturday to legislation that is projected to raise more than $800 million for transportation over the next five years.

Virginia is poised to enact a funding bill that raises sales taxes but slashes fuel taxes to create $200 million of new transportation revenue each year that could be used for bonding.