Advertisement

Other economic news coming this week:

Share

* On Tuesday, the Commerce Department is expected to report that starts of new housing construction declined 1.1% in April to a seasonally adjusted 1.747 million units as mortgage rates moved higher.

* On Thursday, the Commerce Department is expected to report that the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services narrowed to $18.6 billion in March from a record $19.4 billion during February, analysts said. The smaller gap won’t point to any real improvement, though. For all of this year, the trade shortfall is on target to top last year’s record of $169 billion as consumer demand has pushed imports to record levels. Exports have been hurt by anemic demand overseas.

* Also on Thursday, the Labor Department is scheduled to report that first-time claims for state unemployment benefits declined in the week ended May 15 to a seasonally adjusted 302,000. That’s a level consistent with low unemployment.

Advertisement
Advertisement