Next Week: Construction spending, Best Buy earnings, jobs report

Audio By Carbonatix

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

Under construction

The Commerce Department releases its latest snapshot of U.S. construction spending Monday.

Economists project that spending was flat in January compared to the previous month. That would follow December’s 0.5% increase, which nudged spending to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.19 billion.

Construction spending, monthly percent change, seasonally adjusted:

Aug. 0.9

Sept. -0.9

Oct. 1.6

Nov. 0.2

Dec. 0.5

Jan. (est.) 0.0

Source: FactSet

Best Buy’s results

Wall Street expects that Best Buy closed out the final quarter of its last fiscal year on a downbeat note.

Analysts predict the nation’s largest consumer electronics chain will report on Tuesday that its fourth-quarter earnings and revenue declined compared to the same quarter a year earlier. That would echo the company’s third-quarter results. Best Buy’s revenue has been hurt as many Americans have pulled back on purchases of appliances and consumer-electronics gadgets to focus on essentials.

Eye on hiring

Economists predict hiring in the U.S. picked up in February after a sharp slowdown the previous month.

They expect the Labor Department will report Friday that nonfarm employers added 160,000 jobs in February. That would follow a gain of 143,000 jobs in January, reflecting a solid but unspectacular labor market with a 4% unemployment rate.

Nonfarm payrolls, monthly change, seasonally adjusted:

Sept. 240,000

Oct. 44,000

Nov. 261,000

Dec. 307,000

Jan. 143,000

Feb. (est.) 160,000

Source: FactSet