hampton pearson. >> reporter: from july to mid-august, economic activity continued expanding across most regions of the country. respondents in most district expect growth to continue at its recent pace. districts reporting on manufacturing mostly positive. in 10 of the 12 districts, matter of fact. retail contacts, sales revenues continue to expand. most district reporting increased auto sales, transportation activity improving as well. banking sector tallying increases in both business and consumer loans, reports on commercial and residential real estate, mostly positive. home sales and leasing widely improved. one slowdown, if you will -- the energy sector nationwide was reported flat or down in all districts. modest to moderate growth in labor demand. however, tightening labor markets are pushing up wages slightly in selected industries. turning now to the consumer. spending, frankly is a mixed

for "nightly business report," i'm hampton pearson in washington. >>> while the u.s. economy appears to be chugging right along, the same cannot be said for europe. today the european central bank cut its growth and inflation forecast for that region, blaming concerns over the global economy. mar mario draggie's tone is that the economic recovery has been disappointing. >> information available indicates a continued weaker economic recovery. and as lower increasing inflation rates, compared with earlier expectations. more recently, renewed down side risks have emerged to the outlook for growth and inflation. >> many are interpreting these comments to mean that the ecb's 1 trillion euro stimulus program could be extended. and a further fall in oil prices and slowing chinese economy, which is the world's second largest. china's stock market which sparked much of the recent volatility across the globe is closed today and tomorrow. this is as the country commemorates the 70th anniversary of the end of world war ii. china is marking that occasion with a military parade in

hampton pearson looks at the factors the federal reserve must weigh. >> as the countdown to what could be continues, a debate over whether policymakers will raise rates for the first time in more than a decade has become too close to call. economic turbulence in china in recent weeks and market volatility has jump-started the debate over the timing of liftoff. >> by all the macro fundamental indicators, it's about time. i think the debate really is more whether the turbulence in the last few weeks coming out of china and other parts of the world affecting our own markets is a reason to slow down on this. >> since the last fed meeting, janet yellen and her fellow monetary policymakers will have data showing a rebound in economic growth, a solid job market argumenting monk than 200,000 new hires a month with unemployment down to 5.1% in august. in the next two days new data on retail sales and the other half of the fed's mandate -- inflation. >> i think they made it clear they think of a lot of different things, but the most important things are what are the labor market conditions, whic

in washington, hampton pearson, nightly business report. >> got to love that standup at the bar there, hampton. >>> still ahead, the message president obama sends some of the most influential business leaders in the country today. >> fiat, chris leer and united auto workers reached an agreement with wages and health care costs. the proposal keeps both sides competitive. chrysler said the deal will bring workers, quote, more significant benefits. neither side disclosed details of the agreement which covers nearly 40,000 workers nationwide. if the terms of the deal are ratified, it will lay the groundwork for negotiations with both general motors and ford. >>> today in washington president obama urged chief executives of some of the nation's biggest countries to pressure congress for a budget plan and avoid government shutdown. spoke to business roundtable, a group that generators in total $7 trillion in revenues. as we told you last night a potential closure of the federal government is one of the biggest concerns of the leaders of that group. ayman jeffers. >> reporter: part of the st

but as hampton pearson tells us, what the fed does next is anything but definitive. >> reporter: in august, headline unemployment fell to a seven-year low, but hiring was the slowest in five months. however, job growth for the last three months has averaged 221,000, after the government revised job growth upward for june and july by 44,000. but wage growth at just over 2% over the last year is still below normal for recovery. lots of americans remain on the sidelines. at 62.6%, the labor force participation rate remains at a 38-year low. enough ammunition leading economists, say, for monetary policy makers on both sides of the debate for raising interest rates. >> there's reason for anxiety when we get a lower than expected number for this. >> especially with the unemployment rate, it's strong enough to get the fed to move. >> reporter: health care leads the way for job growth, creating nearly half a million new jobs so far this year. >> what we're aiming to do is create a comfortable high-quality, high-touch setting, so that patients feel really comfortable, have easy access to their doct

for "nightly business report" i'm hampton pearson in washington. >>> the health of the global economy is issue number one at an annual gathering of thought leaders and decision makers in nantucket, massachusetts. the meeting is called the nantucket project. and some of the attendees shared their thoughts and opinions with brian sullivan. >> reporter: even on this small island off the coast of massachusetts the concerns are decidedly global. here at the fifth annual nantucket project gathering of business, political, and creative leaders, the signs of a possible global slowdown dominate the economic conversation with china and germany square on the front page. former barclays capital ceo bob diamond is here, and he said china's fate right now is unknown. >> we've seen 20 years of very strong economic growth. we have a correction. how strong will that correction be or how deep will that correction be? i'm not sure that we know yet. i think a lot of it depends on the quality of the policy response. >> reporter: it's difficult to blame anybody for being a bit nervous. what started as conc

hampton pearson has all the details. >> reporter: volkswagen in hopes of clearing the air after it wasght cheating on diesel emissions tests in the u.s. today announced plans for a corporate overhaul. it named mathias mueller, the head of its porsche division, as its new ceo. meanwhile, michael horn will remain ceo of the volkswagen group in america. members of the supervisory board pledged to do everything possible to win back the public trust in the wake of the emissions scandal. >> the test manipulation on diesel engines for volkswagen mean a moral and political disaster. the non-compliant actions of developers and engineers and development shocked volkswagen as it did the general public. >> reporter: vw has admitted installing so-called defeat devices on volkswagen and audi cars with four-cylinder diesel engines on some 11 million cars worldwide including about 500,000 vehicles in the u.s. late friday the justice department announced its own investigation. meanwhile, the environmental protection agency is sending letters to all auto manufacturers outlining major changes to the way

for nightly business report, i'm hampton pearson in washington. pp> mortgage applications spiked last week. up more than 11% after a strong sell-off in the market briefly pushed interest rates lower. diana looks at the drivers behind the numbers. >> we knew this was coming. allegeders said their phones were ringing off the hook. as the stock market plunged, investors headed to the safety of treasuries, pushing their yields down and interest rates followed the yields. even though rates were down barely two days and down barely an i think a of a percentage point, it was enough to push mortgage refinance applications up 11%. also higher but only by 4%. it takes a lot longer for a person to say, okay, now i'm going to buy the house. but interesting also was the big jump in applications to refinance adjustable rate loans or a.r.m.s, bringing their share to the highest in almost a year. they are very popular among borrowers on pricey houses them get a lot more bang for their refi buck. >> the trans ports which are seen as a barometer for economic health

with nicely business report i'm hampton pearson in washington. >>> there was drama on the street as the market tried to interpret that decision by the federal reserve. stocks fell sharply after the release, then rose just as fast only to rise even further, and then drop. by the close the dow jones industrial average fell 65 points to 16,674. the nasdaq was four points higher. the s&p 500 lost five points. yields also fell following the decision as you can see from the chart of the ten-year treasury note. bob pass any was at the new york stock exchange for all of today's ups and downs. >> reporter: well, that was something. even though the fed did not raise rates, they did surprise. and for everybody who said oh, the fed isn't going to raise rates and everybody knows it, apparently everyone did not know it now, the dow was up modestly going into the fed announcement. then it dropped a bit initially. and then it rallied more than 250 points in the following hour. then, i'm not done -- it went all the way back down almost 300 points in the last hour before settling just off the lows for th

let's get some breaking news with hampton pearson on volkswagen. hampton? >> mandy, the u.s. justice department confirms to cnbc that it is launching its own emissions-related investigation into volkswagen and those charges essentially that it had devices on its cars designed to defeat emissions tests of one kind or another. earlier in the day also here in washington, the environmental protection agency announced it was expanding its probe beyond volkswagen and sending out letters to all u.s. auto manufacturers -- or all auto manufacturers that it would be stepping up its emissions testing regime as well. also from germany, volkswagen as expected announcing that matthew matthias -- mattias muller, excuse me, he is going to do everything he can to win back the trust. he said we stand by our responsibility. carefulness is even more important than speed and the company would introduce even tougher compliance rules in the days ahead. the lead here, the doj, department of justice, launching an investigation into those volkswagen emissions problems. >> hampton pearson, thank you ve

workers. >> hampton pearson with a pretty much unequivocally solid beige book that's reported from the2 different fed regions around america. >>> let us know get instant analyst from steve leisman. you heard hampton. i'm sure you've got a copy of the beige book in front of you. i was kind of strolling through. here's the reality -- that is positive. labor tightening. expansion. auto sales. home sales. is this pretty much putting the fed on the table for september 17th? how could they not after this kind of regional report? >> so if i could make a quick personal note as the guy who normally reports the beige book and what a solid job hampton did. i think you're right to pick out the things that hampton emphasized when he talks about wages being something that will move the federal reserve. a little caution -- the beige book is not the report that will make or break the federal reserve's decision in september. but as a piece of the evidence that the fed will use, first of all, it is a very contemporary report. it comes from -- it's also very wide. it comes from all over the country. so t

. >>> i'm hampton pearson with your cnbc market wrap. adds 76 points, the s&p 500 up by 120, the nasdaq up by 39. apple shares climb more than 2%. a day after unveiling new products at an event in san francisco. shares of l s of lulu lemon wene other direction. sending stock down 16%. that's it from cnbc. for the whole weekend. zzzquil. the non-habit forming sleep aid that helps you sleep easily, and wake refreshed. because sleep is a beautiful thing. so far, you're horrible at this, flo. yeah, no talent for drawing, flo. house! car! oh, raise the roof! no one? remember when we used to raise the roof, diane? oh, quiet, richard, i'm trying to make sense of flo's terrible drawing. i'll draw the pants off that thing. oh, oh, hats on hamburgers! dancing! drive-in movie theater! home and auto. lamp! squares. stupid, dumb. lines. [ alarm rings ] no! home and auto bundle from progressive. saves you money. yay, game night, so much fun. so you're a small business expert from at&t? yeah, give me a problem and i've got the solution. well, we have 3