This Week: Consumer borrowing, job openings, Costco earns
Dec 5, 2021, 8:10 AM | Updated: 10:11 pm
A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:
JUST CHARGE IT
The Federal Reserve issues its latest monthly tally of U.S. consumer borrowing Tuesday.
The tally, which excludes mortgages and other loans secured by real estate, is expected to show consumer borrowing increased by $25 billion in October, down from a gain of $29.9 billion the previous month. Americans ramped up their use of credit this spring, but the pace has slowed since borrowing surged by nearly $36 billion in June.
Consumer credit, monthly change, seasonally adjusted, billions of dollars:
May 32.7
June 35.5
July 16.6
Aug. 13.8
Sept. 29.9
Oct. (est.) 25.0
Source: FactSet
HELP STILL WANTED
A new Labor Department survey of job openings should provide insight into the health of the U.S. labor market.
The number of available jobs has been above 10 million since June. The record before the pandemic was 7.5 million. The demand for new hires comes as Americans are increasingly leaving their jobs, in many cases for more money as companies bump up pay to fill vacancies. October’s tally of job openings is due out Wednesday.
JOLTS job openings, in millions, by month:
April 9.19
May 9.48
June 10.19
July 11.10
Aug. 10.63
Sept. 10.44
Source: FactSet
IN THE CLUB
Wall Street expects another solid quarterly snapshot from Costco Wholesale.
Analysts predict the warehouse club operator will report Thursday that its earnings and revenue increased in its fiscal first quarter versus the same period last year. That would echo the company’s results in its last fiscal year, which ended in August. Issaquah, Washington-based Costco has already reported strong annual sales growth for September, October and November.
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