Wall Street Journal (08/29/14) Eric Morath; Josh Mitchell

The consumer price index for July increased a seasonally adjusted 0.1% from the month before, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Excluding food and energy prices, it rose 0.1% from June and 1.5% year-to-year. Meanwhile, personal spending fell 0.1%, the first time spending has fallen since January. Consumer spending rose 0.4% in June.

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (08/28/14)

Growth in 10th district manufacturing activity slowed slightly in August, but producers’ expectations for future activity remained solid, according to the latest manufacturing survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The month-to-month composite index stood at 3 in August, down from 9 in July. The production index fell from 11 to 4, and the shipments and new orders indexes also declined but remained above zero. The employment index was negative 4, the first negative result in 10 months, while the order backlog index remained relatively steady at negative 5.

Separately, the Kansas City Fed’s Labor Market Conditions Indicators showed continued improvement in July. The activity indicator increased to negative 0.6 in July and shows substantial improvement from its low point of negative 2.1 in December 2009. The momentum indicator has been near historically high levels during the past four months.