This Week: Construction spending, productivity, jobs report
The Commerce Department issues its April tally of U.S. construction spending Tuesday
A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:
EYE ON CONSTRUCTION
Construction spending has been mostly rising over the past year, fueled by strong demand for new single-family houses.
Through the first three months of the year, total construction spending was $328.3 billion, or 4.5% ahead of where it was in the same stretch of 2020. Economists project that construction spending rose 0.6% in April. The Commerce Department issues its April tally of construction spending Tuesday.
Construction spending, monthly percent change, seasonally adjusted:
Nov. 1.4
Dec. 2.1
Jan. 0.6
Feb. -0.6
March 0.2
April (est.) 0.6
Source: FactSet
ECONOMIC BELLWETHER
The Labor Department delivers on Thursday its final estimate of how productive U.S. employees were in the first quarter.
Economists expect that productivity, which is the amount of output per hour of work, increased at an annual rate of 5.5% in the first three months of the year, recovering from a 3.8% rate of decline in the fourth quarter of last year. That would be the biggest quarterly rise in productivity since an 11.2% surge in the second quarter of last year.
Productivity, annualized quarterly percent change, seasonally adjusted:
Q4 2019: 1.6
Q1 2020: -0.8
Q2 2020: 11.2
Q3 2020: 4.2
Q4 2020: -3.8
Q1 2021 (est.): 5.5
Source: FactSet
ALL ABOUT JOBS
Economists predict hiring in the U.S. accelerated in May after a pullback the previous month.
They expect the Labor Department will report Friday that nonfarm employers added 700,000 jobs in May. That would follow a gain of 266,000 in April, which was sharply lower than March’s gain of 770,000 jobs. The weaker job growth in April came as many businesses struggled to find enough workers to catch up with a rapidly strengthening economic rebound.
Nonfarm payrolls, monthly change, seasonally adjusted:
Dec. -306,000
Jan. 233,000
Feb. 536,000
March 770,000
April 266,000
May (est.) 700,000
Source: FactSet
