This week: Consumer confidence, inflation, employment

A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week.

Confidence checkup

The Conference Board publishes its consumer confidence index for October on Tuesday.

Last month, American consumers felt less confident amid rising concerns about jobs. Economists expect the index to remain mostly unchanged in October. A reading of 90 or better reflects a healthy economy. The business research group’s index is closely watched by economists because consumer spending makes up about 70% of economic activity in the U.S.

Consumer confidence, by month:

May: 101.3

June: 97.8

July: 101.9

Aug.: 105.6

Sept.: 98.7

Oct. (est.): 98.9

Source: FactSet

Inflation watch

The government on Thursday issues a consumer spending report that includes closely watched inflation data.

Economists expect the report to show that inflation continued easing in September. Forecasts call for the rate of inflation to have cooled to 2%, hitting the Federal Reserve’s preferred target rate. The central bank raised interest rates to their highest point in two decades in an effort to tame inflation and it has already started to cut rates.

PCE Deflator, annual percent change, seasonally adjusted:

April: 2.7

May: 2.6

June: 2.4

July: 2.5

Aug.: 2.2

Sept. (est.): 2.0

Source: FactSet

Hiring update

The Labor Department releases its comprehensive October jobs report Friday.

Economists forecast that U.S. employers added significantly fewer jobs this month than September, when the gain was far more than expected. That helped ease concerns about a weakening labor market. The Federal Reserve has started cutting interest rates, in part to ease the cost of borrowing to help bolster the job market.

Nonfarm payrolls, monthly change, seasonally adjusted:

May: 216,000

June: 118,000

July: 144,000

Aug.: 159,000

Sept.: 254,000

Oct. (est.): 125,000

Source: FactSet.

The Associated Press