Economic indicators

Existing home sales declined 1.7% to a seasonally adjusted 5.35 million-unit rate in August , the National Association of Realtors announced Wednesday.

The U.S. current account deficit widened considerably to $123.1 billion in the second quarter from a revised $113.5 billion gap in the previous quarter.

U.S. import prices rose 0.6% in August, ahead of the 0.4% gain expected, and were up 0.3% excluding fuel prices and also up 0.3% excluding just petroleum prices.

The pace of housing starts fell by 0.8% to a 1.180 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in August.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were announced Monday, as the three-months incurred a 1.045% high rate and the six-months incurred a 1.180% high rate.

Builders’ confidence in the market for new single-family homes decreased, the National Association of Home Builders said.

The New York region's service sector activity "expanded modestly," according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's September Business Leaders Survey, released Monday.

The increase in median income may be connected to emigration from the island.

The value of business inventories rose 0.2% in July, as expected by analysts and predicted by an MNI calculation, while business sales were also up 0.2%, a Commerce Department report Friday showed.

The University of Michigan's preliminary September consumer sentiment index reading was 95.3, compared to the final August 96.8 and the preliminary August 97.6, according to market sources.

Industrial production plunged 0.9% in August, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.

Retail sales slid 0.2% in August after gaining a revised 0.3% in July, originally reported as a 0.6% increase, the Commerce Department said Friday.

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed "business activity continued to grow strongly in New York State."

The consumer price index rose 0.4% in August, slightly ahead of expectations for a 0.3% gain.

Initial jobless claims fell by 14,000 to 284,000 in the September 9 week, a surprise decline that suggests workers are having trouble filing for benefits.

The federal government ran a $107.7 billion deficit in August, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.

Labor market “activity declined and momentum remained high in August,” the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said.

Final demand PPI rose 0.2% in August and was up 0.1% excluding food and energy prices, data released Wednesday showed.

U.S. job openings unexpectedly rose to a record in July, indicating resilient demand for workers, Labor Department figures showed on Tuesday.

Small businesses were more optimistic on a “surge in capital spending and high sales expectations,” according to the National Federation of Independent Business' monthly Small Business Optimism index.