By Kathleen Madigan
After the busyness of the first week of July, this week's
economic calendar is pretty sparse.
One key, albeit lagged, report will be the trade deficit numbers
on Tuesday. Trade was whipsawed in March and April as the end of
the West Coast port slowdown caused imports to surge and then taper
off. The trade deficit jumped to $50.6 billion in March and then
plunged to $40.9 billion in April.
Now that shipping flows have normalized, economists surveyed by
The Wall Street Journal think the trade gap will increase to $42.5
billion in May.
Also on Tuesday will be the Labor Department's labor turnover
report. The report will detail the churn in the May labor markets.
According to the latest employment report, the economy created
254,000 jobs in May, down from the 280,000 gain first reported.
Although not a data report, one interesting release will be the
minutes of the June 16-17 Federal Reserve policy meeting on
Wednesday. Fed watchers will want to read how much policy makers
discussed the economic outlook, international risks, and the timing
of the first interest-rate increase.
DATE TIME RELEASE PERIOD CONSENSUS PREVIOUS
(ET)
Tuesday 0830 US Trade Deficit May $42.5B (31) $40.9B
1000 Job Openings &
Labor Turnover May N/A N/A
Wednesday 1500 Consumer Credit May +$19.0B (11) +$20.5B
Thursday 0830 Jobless Claims Jul 4 275K (19) 281K
Friday 1000 Wholesale Inventories May +0.4% (10) +0.4%
(Figures in parentheses refer to number of economists surveyed.)
Write to Kathleen Madigan at kathleen.madigan@wsj.com