Shoppers carrying shopping bags at an outdoor shopping center.

Can consumers continue to carry on?
Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Getty Images)

It’s a big week for economic data. Right now, per the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey, American consumers are feeling pretty good. But are those good vibes based in reality? The numbers will spell it out in due time.

Monday

The start of the week (Feb. 26) saw sales numbers for new homes. They came in softer than expected, with an annualized rate of 661,000 keys getting handed over. Plus, the median home price fell a bit from last year to just over $420,000.

Tuesday

We’ll find out what’s going on with the broader market that all those homes got sold into (Case-Shiller U.S. home price indices), how many appliances and couches people are ordering to stuff those homes with (U.S. durable goods orders), and how confident consumers are that the economy will remain good enough for them to keep on shopping for more (U.S. consumer confidence).

Wednesday

Was last year’s better-than-expected economic growth too good to be true? We’ll soon see (first revision of last quarter’s GDP numbers). Also incoming are several examinations of how much stuff is flowing around the economy (U.S. goods trade numbers, retail, and wholesale inventories).

Thursday

Here come some looks into the personal ledgers of American shoppers (personal income and spending). Amid all the layoff news, we’ll find out how many other people are getting pink slips (initial jobless claims). The big one, though, is an update on the inflation situation. Price tag increases sped up last month, but we’ll find out if the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge reflects whether consumers are paying up (the personal consumption expenditures price index).

Friday

We’ll cap the week off with some esoteric peeks into the hum of American factories (S&P and ISM manufacturing purchasing manager indices), a hard-numbers peek into the production of American real estate (U.S. construction spending), and a peek into millions of American windshields (U.S. auto sales).



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