Wall Street Journal (09/17/15) Jon Hilsenrath

Following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, chairman Janet Yellen indicated that short-term interest rates will remain unchanged, delaying again the decision to raise rates as worries about overseas growth continue. Thirteen of the 17 members of the policymaking committee expect to raise rates in 2015, but that was fewer than the 15 members who held that view in June.

Many of the central bank’s officials, including Yellen, do not want to raise short-term interest rates until they are more confident that the inflation rate will move toward its 2% target.

“The longer they wait, the more difficult their job is going to be 12 or 18 months from now,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “The main risk is that they now wait too long and that then they have to play catch-up and have to raise rates very aggressively and undermine economic growth.”

Wall Street Journal (09/17/15) Chelsey Dulaney

Wal-Mart Stores intends to hire 60,000 seasonal employees this year, on par with its hiring plans last year. Permanent employees will have the opportunity to work extra hours.

Meanwhile, employment firms for retailers and logistics companies say they are having difficulty sourcing warehouse and fulfillment center employees.

Conference Board News Release (09/18/15)

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the U.S. increased 0.1% in August to 123.7, following no change in July.

“The U.S. LEI suggests economic growth will remain moderate into the New Year, with little reason to expect growth to pick up substantially,” says Ataman Ozyildirim, director of business cycles and growth research at the Conference Board. “Average working hours and new orders in manufacturing have been weak, pointing to more slow growth in the industrial sector. However, employment, personal income, and manufacturing and trade sales have all been rising, helping to offset the weakness in industrial production in recent months.”

The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index for the U.S. increased 0.1% in August to 112.6, following a 0.4% increase in July. The Conference Board Lagging Economic Index for the U.S. increased 0.2% in August to 118.5, following a 0.3% increase in July.

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (09/17/15)

Manufacturing conditions for September were mixed in the Philadelphia region, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The survey’s broadest measure of manufacturing conditions, the diffusion index of current activity, decreased from 8.3 in August to -6.0 in September. This is the first negative reading in the index since February 2014. However, the demand for manufactured goods, as measured by the survey’s current new orders index, showed continued growth. The diffusion index increased from 5.8 to 9.4. Meanwhile, the current shipments index remained positive but fell 2 points, to 14.8.

Firms’ responses suggest some improvement in employment conditions in September despite the reported lull in overall activity. The percentage of firms reporting an increase in employees in September (21%) was higher than the percentage reporting a decrease (11%). The current employment index increased 5 points, its highest reading in five months. Firms also reported, on balance, a modest increase in the workweek, similar to August.