Economy/Ecommerce

The Federal Reserve has long been adept at maintaining a poker face, and Chair Janet Yellen seems to be carrying on the practice.

The Federal Open Market Committee released the minutes of its July 29-30 meeting, striking a tone of mild optimism, in as much as the tone of the meeting was actually reflected by the minutes.

U.S. housing starts jumped in July compared with June, according to the Census Bureau, a reversal of the preceding months, which have been generally sluggish for housing starts.

Thirty states had unemployment rate increases in July compared with June, eight experienced decreases and 12 states and the District of Columbia had no change, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

The Census Bureau reported that U.S. e-commerce sales for the second quarter of 2014 were $75 billion, an increase of 4.9 percent compared with the first quarter of the year.

Eurostat, the statistics arm of the European Union, reported that gross domestic product in the euro zone (the 18 nations that use the common currency) neither grew nor contracted in the second quarter of 2014 compared with Q1.

In July, American consumers took a break from an increase in retail spending.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, in its latest Monthly Treasury Statement, said that the country ran a $94 billion deficit in July 2014, down from $97 billion during the same month a year earlier.