This Week: Job openings, Walgreens earns, nonfarm payrolls
A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:
HELP WANTED
The Labor Department issues its latest monthly snapshot of U.S. job openings Tuesday.
Economists expect the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, will show U.S. employers advertised 11.1 million open jobs in November. That would be up slightly from about 11 million the previous month and nearly match a record high of 11.19 million in July.
JOLTS job openings, in millions, by month:
June 10.19
July 11.10
Aug. 10.63
Sept. 10.60
Oct. 11.03
Nov. (est.) 11.10
Source: FactSet
MIXED RESULTS?
Wall Street expects Walgreens Boots Alliance’s latest quarterly report card will show mixed results.
Analysts predict the largest U.S. drugstore chain will report Thursday that its fiscal first-quarter earnings increased from a year earlier, even as revenue declined. That would echo the company’s results for the 12 months that ended in August.
ALL ABOUT JOBS
Economists predict hiring in the U.S. accelerated in December after slowing the previous month.
The Labor Department is expected to report Friday that nonfarm employers added 362,000 jobs in December. That would be up from 210,000 in November, which was the weakest monthly gain in nearly a year. Even so, the unemployment rate tumbled in November to 4.2%, its lowest level since the pandemic struck.
Nonfarm payrolls, monthly change, seasonally adjusted:
July 1,091,000
Aug. 483,000
Sept. 379,000
Oct. 546,000
Nov. 210,000
Dec. (est.) 362,000
Source: FactSet