This Week: Construction spending, trade gap, nonfarm payrolls
A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:
EYE ON CONSTRUCTION
Despite recent gains, U.S. construction spending is lagging last year’s pace.
Spending rose 0.5% in September, boosted by government and private residential projects, but through the first nine months of the year remained about 2.2% below the same stretch in 2018. Did the trend improve in October? Find out Monday, when the Commerce Department issues its latest construction figures.
Construction spending, monthly percent change, seasonally adjusted:
May -0.7
June -0.9
July 0.5
Aug. -0.3
Sept. 0.5
Oct. (est.) 0.4
Source: FactSet
OUT OF BALANCE
The Commerce Department reports its October tally of the nation’s trade gap Thursday.
The September gap between what America buys from abroad and what it sells shrank by 4.7% to $52.5 billion, the lowest level in five months. The trade gap narrowed as imports dropped more sharply than exports and America ran a rare surplus in petroleum.
Trade balance, monthly, billions of dollars, seasonally adjusted:
May -55.9
June -55.5
July -54.0
Aug. -55.0
Sept. -52.5
Oct. (est.) -53.5
Source: FactSet
ALL ABOUT JOBS
Economists predict hiring in the U.S. rebounded in November after falling the previous month.
They expect the Labor Department will report Friday that nonfarm employers added 192,500 jobs in November. That would be an increase the 128,000 jobs added in October, when tens of thousands of workers were temporarily counted as unemployed because of the now-settled strike against General Motors.
Nonfarm payrolls, monthly change, seasonally adjusted:
June 178,000
July 166,000
Aug. 219,000
Sept. 180,000
Oct. 128,000
Nov. (est.) 192,500
Source: FactSet