Wall Street Journal (01/06/14) Kathleen Madigan

The Institute for Supply Management reports a decrease in its nonmanufacturing purchasing managers index from 53.9 in November to 53.0 in December, falling short of a Dow Jones Newswires forecast of 54.5. The new orders index fell for the first time since July 2009, from 56.4 to 49.4 on a month-to-month basis.

Meanwhile, the employment index edged up from 52.5 to 55.8, and the business activity and production index held steady at around 55.2. The inventory index dropped from 54.0 to 48.0, and the prices index rose from 52.2 to 55.1.

United Press International (01/06/14)

Factory orders for manufactured goods increased 1.8% in November, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, while durable goods orders increased by 3.4%. New orders rose to their highest level since 1992.

Los Angeles Times (01/07/14) Jim Puzzanghera; Don Lee

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Janet Yellen as the next chief of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Senate voted 56 to 26 to confirm her to succeed Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Feb. 1.

NBC News (01/07/14) Carrie Dann; Kasie Hunt

In a 60 to 37 vote, the U.S. Senate has voted to proceed with consideration of a bill to extend unemployment benefits to more than one million of the long-term unemployed. The Obama administration had argued that not extending the benefits would hurt the economy.