Kyle Glazier

The federal government ran a $59.7 billion budget deficit in June after posting an unrevised $124.6 billion deficit the previous month, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.

Big bond commitments will be a major piece of the funding puzzle when it comes to constructing a national high-speed rail system, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood affirmed Wednesday.

The Federal Open Market Committee agreed to leave forward guidance on monetary policy alone for another month, but members expressed the possibility of further action if the economic recovery continues to expand at a slower-than-projected pace, according to the minutes of its June 19 meeting, released Wednesday.

Sales of merchant wholesalers dropped 0.8% to $409.6 billion in May after rising a revised 0.6% in April, originally reported as a 1.1% gain, while inventories rose 0.3%, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

The U.S. international trade deficit was $48.7 billion for May, a 3.8% drop from the revised $50.6 billion deficit for April, originally reported as $50.1 billion, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

Two Virginia authorities will price a total of more than $200 million of bonds in separate negotiated deals over the next week. The Virginia Resources Authority will price $81 million of bonds in a pool deal on behalf of 13 local issuers on July 12. In addition, the Commonwealth Transportation Board will sell $125.5 million of grant anticipation revenue bonds less than a week later.

Consumer credit increased by $17.1 billion, or 8.0%, in May to $2.572.8 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Monday.

A U.S. appeals court will take up a lawsuit as early as October that attacks the financial backing of billions of bonds paying for the Washington Metrorail's Silver Line Extension to Dulles Airport.

Seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims fell to 374,000 for the week ending June 30, while continuing claims for the previous week rose slightly to 3.306 million, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.

President Obama will sign the compromise two-year, $105 billion highway bill at a White House ceremony on July 6.

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 5-4 to go ahead with the county's participation in the second phase of the Washington Metrorail's Silver Line extension, committing the county to an approximately $270 million share of the construction costs of the controversial and largely bond-financed project.

New orders for manufactured goods rose $3.3 billion or 0.7% to $469.0 billion in May, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

Construction spending climbed 0.9% to a seasonally adjusted estimated annual rate of $830.0 billion in May, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

Federal lawmakers approved a 27-month, $105 billion surface transportation bill Friday, protecting revenue streams crucial for state and local infrastructure financing despite the absence of municipal bond measures that had been sought by market advocates

Personal income rose $25.4 billion or 0.2% in May, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

A long-awaited federal highway bill does not include the bond-friendly provisions championed by muni market groups and public finance advocates.

Seasonally-adjusted initial jobless claims fell to 386,000 for the week ending June 23, while continuing claims for the previous week fell slightly to 3.296 million, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.

Real gross domestic product - the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the U.S. - increased at an annual rate of 1.9% in the first quarter of 2012, according to the final estimate released by the Commerce Department Thursday.

Pending home sales rose 5.9% to an index reading of 101.1 in May after an unrevised 5.5% decrease to 95.5 in April, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors.

New orders for manufactured durable goods rose $2.3 billion or 1.1% to $217.2 billion in May, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.