Next Week: small business index, consumer prices, producer prices

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

Business barometer

The National Federation of Independent Business serves up its small business economic trends index on Tuesday.

The monthly index tracks small firms’ views of the U.S. economy and their business prospects. The index rose in October after notching a slight gain the previous month.

NFIB small business index, by month:

May 90.5

June 91.5

July 93.7

Aug. 91.2

Sept. 91.5

Oct. 93.7

Source: FactSet.

Inflation watch

The Labor Department issues its November report on consumer prices on Wednesday.

Economists expect inflation was mostly unchanged from October, when it edged higher to 2.6%. The slight increase was driven by costlier rents, used cars and air fares, a sign that price increases might be leveling off after having slowed in September to their lowest pace since 2021.

Consumer price index, annual percent change, not seasonally adjusted:

June: 3.0

July: 2.9

Aug.: 2.5

Sept.: 2.4

Oct.: 2.6

Nov. (est.): 2.6

Source: FactSet.

Inflation barometer

The Labor Department releases its producer price index for November on Thursday.

The index measures inflation at the wholesale level, before businesses pass costs on to consumers. Economists predict that wholesale prices rose at a higher pace last month than in October.

Producer price index, annual percent change, not seasonally adjusted:

June 2.9

July 2.4

Aug. 2.0

Sept. 1.9

Oct. 2.4

Nov. (est.) 2.6

Source: FactSet.

By The Associated Press