“The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower its target for the federal funds rate 25 basis points to 4-1/4%,” the Federal Reserve has reported.

Construction spending in October, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.158 trillion, fell 0.8 percent from September and 0.6 percent from October 2006, according to the Census Bureau.

Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve Districts suggest that the national economy continued to expand during the survey period of October through mid-November but at a reduced pace compared with the previous survey period.

PPIs and state jobs news were mixed.

New construction starts turned down in October, as tabulated today by Reed Construction Data.

Employment rose 166,000 in October and 1.6 million over 12 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.7%.

Evidence that nonresidential construction remains robust came from Reed Construction Data, which reported on May 14 that the January-April value of nonresidential construction starts from Reed’s database was 22% higher than in the same months of 2006.

The PPI for finished goods increased 0.7% in April, seasonally adjusted, following advances of 1% in March and 1.3% in February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported.

The producer price index (PPI) for finished goods slipped 0.2% in January, seasonally adjusted, and rose just 0.2% over the past 12 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday.

Widespread materials inflation demands industry attention.