Economic indicators

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $20 billion of 364-day bills at a 1.650% high yield, a price of 98.331667.

The U.S. services sector continued to expand in November although at a slower pace than in the previous month as the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 57.4 versus to 60.1 in October, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Tuesday

The U.S. international trade gap widened to $48.7 billion in October, a larger gap than the $47.5 billion deficit expected and following a revised wider $44.9 billion gap in September.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills rose on Monday, as the three-months incurred a 1.290% high rate, up from 1. 285% the previous week, and the six-months incurred a 1.450% high rate, up from 1. 435% in the prior week.

The Treasury Department said Monday it will sell $35 billion of four-week discount bills on Tuesday.

Factory orders fell 0.1% in October, a smaller decline than the expected 0.3% drop.

The New York economy is expanding with “across the board increases,” and employment at its best level in more than two years, the Institute for Supply Management-New York’s Report on Business index, released Monday, indicated.

Construction spending was up 1.4% in October, well above expectations, fueled by a 3.9% jump in public construction.

The overall economy grew for the 102nd straight time, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday. Suppliers reported strength in sales.

The Chicago Business Barometer fell to 63.9 in November from 66.2 in October.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business decreased to 59.62 in November from 63.61 in October.

Personal income rose 0.4% in October, compared with a 0.3% gain expected. At the same time, nominal PCE was up 0.3%, as expected.

Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell by 2,000 to 238,000 in the November 25 holiday week, only slightly below the 240,000 level expected, data released by the Labor Department Thursday showed.

The Midwest Economy Index remained at a revised negative 0.12 in October, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Thursday.

Nearly all Federal Reserve districts reported modest or moderate economic growth in the past six weeks as business outlook improved and hurricane-related rebuilding pushed prices higher, the latest Beige Book survey showed Wednesday.

Pending home sales rose 3.5% to an index reading of 109.3 in October, from a downwardly revised 105.6 in September, a 0.4% drop, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors.

Third quarter GDP growth was revised up to a 3.3% annual rate from the 3.0% pace in the advance estimate, as expected, data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed.

Texas service sector activity “increased again in November,” according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index rose to 24.4 from 19.2.

Service sector activity “continued to see strong growth in November,” according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.

The consumer confidence index increased to 129.5 in November from a revised 126.2 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.