This Week: Chewy earns, consumer spending, jobs report

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

IN THE RED

Online pet store Chewy reports its fiscal fourth-quarter results Tuesday.

Wall Street expects the company slid to a loss for the November-January period after reporting a profit in the same quarter last year. Analysts also predict Chewy’s revenue increased from a year earlier. The company benefited from steady sales growth during its last fiscal year, but higher costs due to supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and rising inflation have cut into its bottom line.

EYE ON CONSUMERS

Economists expect that U.S. consumer spending rose moderately last month after a solid increase in January.

They project that consumer spending rose 0.3% in February. That would follow 2.1% jump the previous month, as consumers largely shrugged off higher inflation, which has driven up the prices of food, fuel and other goods. The Commerce Department serves up its monthly snapshot of consumer spending Thursday.

Consumer spending, monthly percent change, seasonally adjusted:

Sept. 0.6

Oct. 1.4

Nov. 0.6

Dec. -0.8

Jan. 2.1

Feb. (est.) 0.3

Source: FactSet

ALL ABOUT JOBS

The Labor Department issues its latest monthly tally of hiring by nonfarm employers Friday.

Economists predict employers added 475,000 jobs in March. That would be down from the 678,000 jobs added in February as the omicron variant of the coronavirus faded and more Americans ventured out to spend at restaurants, shops and hotels. The nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.8% in February, its lowest level since before the pandemic erupted two years ago.

Nonfarm payrolls, monthly change, seasonally adjusted:

Oct. 677,000

Nov. 647,000

Dec. 588,000

Jan. 481,000

Feb. 678,000

March (est.) 475,000

Source: FactSet