Economic indicators

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $55 billion of four-week bills at a 0.750% high yield, a price of 99.941667.

Output at U.S. manufacturers fell in March by the most since August as production of automobiles and parts and business equipment declined, Federal Reserve data showed on Tuesday.

The pace of housing starts slowed by 6.8% to a 1.215 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in March, below expectations for a decline to a 1.238 million pace, data reported by the Commerce Department Tuesday morning showed.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were lower, as the three-months incurred a 0.820% high rate, down from 0.825% the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.945% high rate, down from 0.950% the week before.

The Treasury Department said Monday it will sell $55 billion of four-week discount bills Tuesday.

Confidence among U.S. home builders cooled in April after jumping a month earlier to the highest level since mid-2005, according to data Monday from the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo.

Business activity grew at a more subdued pace in New York State, according to firms responding to the April 2017 Empire State Manufacturing Survey.

The University of Michigan's preliminary April consumer sentiment index reading was 98.0, compared to the final March 96.9 and the preliminary March 97.6, according to market sources.

Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits slipped 1,000 to 234,000, the lowest in six weeks, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The March producer price index slipped 0.1%, slightly less than expected, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

U.S. import prices fell by 0.2% in March on a 3.8% drop in fuel prices, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Wednesday. Import prices were 0.2% higher excluding petroleum or all fuels.

Consumer credit increased by $15.2 billion in February to $3.792 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.

The value of wholesale inventories rose 0.4% in February, in line with the Commerce Department's advance estimate, while wholesale sales gained 0.6%, a Friday report showed.

U.S. inflationary pressures were down in March, as the U.S. future inflation gauge decreased to 113.2 from a 113.5 reading in February, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.

March payrolls came in well below expectations, while the unemployment rate fell below what most policymakers consider full employment. Weather likely played a role pulling down retail employment again last month.

Newly issued Treasury securities held in stripped form increased about $85 million in March to a total of $241.146 billion, the Bureau of the Public Debt reported Monday.

Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell by 25,000 to a five-week low of 234,000 in the week ended April 1, well below the 250,000 level analysts expected, data released by the Labor Department Thursday showed.

About 4,639,700 online job postings appeared on leading internet job boards in March, an increase of 102,000 from February, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.

The U.S. services sector expanded in March although the non-manufacturing business activity composite index was 55.2 in the month, compared to 57.6 in February, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Institute for Supply Management reported Wednesday.

Private-sector employment increased by 263,000 in March, on a seasonally adjusted basis, ADP estimated Wednesday.