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Building permits declined 3.7% in August and 11.1% over the year. Permits for single-family homes in August decreased 2.2% from July and 11.5% over the year. Meanwhile, permits for buildings with five or more units dropped 6.7% from July and 10.8% over the year. In August, housing starts declined 8.5% from July and 6% from…

The Federal Open Market Committee lowered its interest rate target range by 25 basis points to 4.00%–4.25% at its September meeting. In a change to its previous statement, the FOMC noted that job gains have slowed, and the unemployment rate has edged up. At the same time, inflation has moved up. Nonetheless, the committee judged…

U.S. import prices rose 0.3% in August, after advancing 0.2% in July, with higher nonfuel import prices driving the increase. Over the past year, import prices stayed the same. Meanwhile, U.S. export prices stepped up 0.3% in August, with nonagricultural export prices driving the increase. Over the past year, export prices climbed 3.4%, the largest…