“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.