Consumer prices rose 1.5% in the 12 months ending in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced last week. That is the highest annualized inflation rate seen

This September retail sales gain was impressive – minus auto sales, the advance was still 0.5%. In August, both headline and core retail sales fell 0.2%.

Employers added 156,000 net new jobs to their payrolls in September, the Department of Labor stated Friday.

Personal spending was flat in August even as personal incomes rose 0.2%. These numbers from the Department of Commerce fell short of expectations:

Federal Reserve officials decided against a rate hike last week, but two details in the central bank’s latest policy statement suggested an upward move was near.

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% after a flat July, with the core CPI up 0.3%. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected the headline and core CPI to respectively advance 0.1% and 0.2%.

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Taking a surprisingly steep drop, the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing purchasing manager index fell down to 49.4 in August, indicating a slowdown in U.S. factory activity. In July, the PMI had a reading of 52.6.

Speaking Friday at the Federal Reserve’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Fed chair Janet Yellen commented that “the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months.”

According to the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July monetary policy meeting, some Federal Open Market Committee members felt “that economic conditions would soon warrant taking another step in removing policy accommodation.”