Looking Ahead: Week of June 3 to June 7

Market News International surveys between 15 and 20 Wall Street economists each week for their forecasts of economic indicators.

Monday

Construction spending is predicted to edge down 0.2 percent in April after declining 0.9 percent in March. Recently, residential investment spending has been rising while nonresidential investment expenditures have dropped. (Forecast range: -0.7 to 0.5 percent)

Economists expect that the ISM manufacturing index will rise to a level of 55.0 in May from a level of 53.9 in April. The NAPM-Chicago index, considered a precursor of the national index, jumped 6 percentage points in May to surpass 60 percent. (Forecast range: 53.0 to 60.0)

Market players are looking for motor vehicle sales to remain roughly unchanged in May from the April pace. Domestic auto sales should run at a 6.1 million-unit rate while truck sales are expected to run at a 7.4 million-unit rate.

Thursday

Economists are predicting that new jobless claims will decline 5,000 in the week ended June 1 from last week’s level of 410,000. Generally, economists associate levels below 400,000 as consistent with moderate gains in nonfarm payrolls. (Forecast range: -15,000 to +5,000)

Friday

Nonfarm payroll employment is predicted to increase 50,000 in May after increasing a meager 43,000 in April. Watch for revisions to previous months. In both April and May, initially reported increases were revised to show declines for the month. Also, the May figures will incorporate annual benchmark revisions along with seasonal factor adjustments. (Forecast range: 0 to 120,000) Economists continue to predict declines (-15,000) in factory payrolls in May. At the same time, the civilian unemployment rate is expected to edge up to 6.1 percent in May from a level of 6 percent last month. (Forecast range: 5.9 to 6.1 percent)

Economists are predicting that average hourly earnings will increase 0.3 percent in May. This is in line with the average of the past several months. (Forecast range: 0.2 to 0.4 percent) The average workweek is expected to edge up to 34.2 hours from 34.1 hours last month. (Forecast range: 34.1 to 34.3)

Consumer installment credit should expand $7 billion in April, a bit faster than the $4.6 billion gain recorded in March. This partly reflects increased motor vehicle sales. (Forecast range: $5 to $10.0 billion)