Kyle Glazier

State transportation officials, engineers, construction firms and transportation advocacy groups are urging lawmakers working on a final highway bill to support the use of new tax-credit bonds to finance transportation projects.

WASHINGTON — Business inventories were up 0.3% to $1,580.2 billion in March, while sales rose 0.6% to $1,241 billion, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — Retail sales rose 0.1% to $408.0 billion in April after climbing a downwardly revised 0.7% in March, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Business inventories were up 0.3% to $1,580.2 billion in March, while sales rose 0.6% to $1,241.0 billion, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

Retail sales rose 0.1% to $408.0 billion in April after climbing a downwardly revised 0.7% in March, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — District of Columbia residents purchased more than $100 million of the city' latest bond sale of $314 million of income tax-secured revenue refunding bonds, which saved more than $35 million in interest expense, or more than 10% of the refunded principal amount, officials said.

The nation's governors are urging House and Senate conferees working on a final highway bill to avoid doing anything that would restrict flexibility for tax-exempt financing or have a chilling effect on public-private partnerships.

WASHINGTON — The producer price index for finished goods dropped 0.2% in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, while prices rose 0.2% at the core, the Labor Department reported Friday.

WASHINGTON — Rep. G.K. Butterfield has introduced a bill that would curb the power of federal and state officials to toll interstate highways, just as tolls are increasingly seen by transportation officials as a key alternative to offsetting waning federal gas tax revenues for project funding.

The producer price index for finished goods dropped 0.2% in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, while prices rose 0.2% at the core, the Labor Department reported Friday.

WASHINGTON — Executives of two rail organizations that rely on municipal bonds to finance some projects told international advisory firm KPMG that getting stakeholders and policymakers to buy into and embrace a cultural shift will be key to successfully financing large fast-rail networks.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. international trade deficit reached $51.8 billion in March, a 14.1% increase from the revised $45.4 billion deficit for February, originally reported as $46.0 billion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The federal government’s ran a $59.1 billion budget surplus in April, a turnaround from a $198.2 billion deficit in March and up from the $40.4 billion deficit a year ago, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.

The U.S. international trade deficit was $51.8 billion for March, a 14.1% increase from the revised $45.4 billion deficit for February, originally reported as $46.0 billion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON — Sales of merchant wholesalers were up 0.5% to $411.1 billion in March after rising a revised 1.1% in February, while inventories were up 0.3% to $480.4 billion, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

Sales of merchant wholesalers were up 0.5% to $411.1 billion in March after rising a revised 1.1% in February, while inventories were up 0.3% to $480.4 billion, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

A coalition of public finance groups is lobbying hard for House and Senate conferees working on a long-term highway bill to include a provision that would temporarily increase the limit for bank-qualified bonds.

WASHINGTON — Consumer credit increased by $21.3 billion, or 10.2%, in March to $2.542.3 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Monday.

Consumer credit increased by $21.3 billion, or 10.2%, in March to $2.542.3 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Monday.

WASHINGTON — Non-farm payroll employment rose 115,000 in April and the unemployment rate dipped slightly to 8.1%, the Labor Department reported Friday.