This Week: Job openings, consumer credit, Walgreens earns

The Labor Department issues its May snapshot of job openings Tuesday

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

SCARCE JOBS

Employers have been putting up fewer help wanted signs as the pandemic has kept many businesses closed.

The number of available U.S. jobs fell in April to 5.1 million, down from 6 million in March. It was the second monthly decline in a row. Economists project that job openings fell again in May to 4.9 million. The Labor Department issues its latest monthly data on job openings Tuesday.

JOLTS job openings, in millions, by month:

Dec. 6.6

Jan. 7.0

Feb. 7.0

March 6.0

April 5.1

May (est.) 4.9

Source: FactSet

JUST CHARGE IT

The Federal Reserve delivers its May snapshot of U.S. consumer borrowing Wednesday.

The tally, which excludes mortgages and other loans secured by real estate, is expected to show consumer borrowing increased by $2.5 billion in May. Consumer borrowing sank by nearly 20% to $68.8 billion in April as many Americans fretted about the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic and cut back on their use of credit.

Consumer borrowing, monthly change, seasonally adjusted, billions of dollars:

Dec. 21.3

Jan. 8.5

Feb. 19.5

March -6.8

April -68.8

May (est.) 2.5

Source: FactSet

EYE ON WALGREENS

Wall Street expects a downbeat quarterly report card from Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Analysts predict the pharmacy chain will report Thursday that its earnings and revenue declined in the March-May quarter from a year earlier. Walgreens’ earnings also fell in its previous two quarters. In April, the company warned investors that it wasn’t able to accurately assess the virus pandemic’s impact on its finances.