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The Federal Reserve described economic activity as “strong” in a statement Aug. 1, the first time it has done so since it called it “quite strong” in May 2006 — in the late stages of the last economic expansion, shortly before the housing market drove the economy into meltdown.

WASHINGTON — Spending on U.S. construction projects fell 1.1% in June, the biggest decline in more than a year as spending on public construction dropped at the highest rate in more than five years.

WASHINGTON — Consumer spending rose by a solid 0.4% in June, while a key gauge of inflation increased at an annual pace of 2.2% for a second straight month — the strongest back-to-back gains in six years.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy surged in the April-June quarter to an annual growth rate of 4.1%. That’s the fastest pace since 2014, driven by consumers who began spending their tax cuts and exporters who rushed to get their products delivered ahead of retaliatory tariffs.

High-level talks for a new NAFTA are picking up again this week following two months of limited negotiations that were marred by tit-for-tat tariff battles and diplomatic fallout.

President Donald Trump lit into critics of his tariffs, saying discord — some from Republicans in Congress — undercuts his ability to narrow the U.S. trade gaps with other countries.

The U.S. Treasury Department has gone from economic diplomats to trade warriors, a shift that leaves Secretary Steven Mnuchin once again exposed to broadsides from global counterparts as tensions grow ahead of a multilateral summit.

President Donald Trump lashed out at China and the European Union for their weak currencies and said a stronger dollar and rising interest rates are undermining America’s “competitive edge,” taking a fresh jab at the Federal Reserve. Stocks and the dollar fell.

There is a fair chance that North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations can wrap up by the end of the year, Mexico’s Ambassador to the U.S., Geronimo Gutierrez, said July 17.