In the week ahead, the U.S. and the eurozone will see jobs figures and China will receive a fresh reading on inflation.
Tuesday: The U.S. Commerce Department releases November trade figures. In October, the trade deficit narrowed to $47.2 billion as U.S. imports of consumer goods continued to fall. The November trade report will offer insight into the extent to which softening global growth is spilling into the U.S. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect the trade deficit logged in at $43.6 billion in November.
Thursday: China’s strong consumer inflation, a big headache for Beijing now, probably edged up in December. Economists surveyed by the Journal expect the consumer-price index rose 4.6% last month from a year earlier, compared with November’s 4.5% increase. Food and commodity prices likely rose, helping ease industrial deflation pressure.
The eurozone will get a new reading on the labor market. With the eurozone’s manufacturing exporters facing weaker demand in 2019, the currency area has relied on its own consumers to drive economic growth. But policy makers worry that the longer the manufacturing slump continues, the more likely that will take a toll on the jobs market. So far, the jobless rate has remained at lows not seen since before the financial crisis, but surveys suggest a rise in unemployment may be near. Figures for November are expected to show an unchanged unemployment rate of 7.5%, and any rise would stoke fears of a further slowdown in growth during 2020.
Friday: The U.S. Labor Department releases the December jobs report. In November, the U.S. economy added 266,000 jobs and the unemployment rate slipped to 3.5%, matching September as the lowest level since 1969. These figures suggested the U.S. economy remained on solid ground. Economists will watch to see how the labor market fared at the very end of 2019. Economists surveyed by the Journal forecast nonfarm payrolls grew by 150,000 and the jobless rate logged in at 3.5% in December.
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