Biz Buzz: A daily update on economic and business news
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The economy continues to confound. Just days after the government reported last week that the economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter, a key manufacturing report showed a slowdown was at hand. This week, the Labor Department may settle the debate with the release of the November jobs report. If the economy is still humming, then job creation should be robust.
Monday, December 4:
PENDING HOME SALES: The National Association of Realtors will announce the latest results of its pending home sales index, a leading indicator of the health of the housing market.
EARNINGS TO WATCH: Kroger.
Tuesday, December 5:
PRODUCTIVITY: The Labor Department will report on how productive the U.S. labor force was in the third quarter. The more productive workers are, the less chance there is for inflation to rear its ugly head, even if the economy is expanding rapidly.
SERVICE SECTOR: The Institute for Supply Management will report on how fast the service economy is growing with the release of its closely followed nonmanufacturing index.
LAYOFF REPORT: The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas will report on how many job cuts were announced by corporate America last month.
EMPLOYMENT INDEX: The online job site Monster.com will release the latest results of its employment index, which gauges the labor market's vitality by tracking trends in online recruitment.
EARNINGS TO WATCH: AutoZone, Toll Brothers, and World Wrestling Entertainment.
Wednesday, December 6
EARNINGS TO WATCH: Korn Ferry.
Thursday, December 7:
CONSUMER CREDIT: The Federal Reserve will release new data on consumer borrowing trends, just in time for the holiday shopping season.
EARNINGS TO WATCH: National Semiconductor.
Friday, December 8:
JOBS REPORT: The Labor Department will report on the state of the job market in November. In addition to updating the nation's unemployment rate, the government will report on how many new jobs were created last month.
CONSUMER SENTIMENT: The University of Michigan will offer a preliminary assessment of consumer confidence for December, a key month for retailers.
