Looking Ahead: Week of March 4 to March 8
Market News International compiles a market consensus that surveys 15 to 20 economists each week.

Wednesday
Factory orders should record a 1.6 percent gain in January, after posting a 1.2 percent drop in December. This reflects the 2.6 percent hike recorded for durable goods for the month and assumes little change in the nondurable component. (Forecast range: 0.5 to 2.3 percent)

Market players will be reading the Beige Book in the afternoon looking for anecdotal signs of economic growth and labor market improvement. Good news would include moderate growth with no price pressures.

Thursday
Economists are predicting that new jobless claims will edge down 3,000 to 375,000 in the week ended March 2 from last week's level of 378,000. Jobless claims can move erratically from week to week, but new jobless claims have headed down in the past couple of months. (Forecast range: -8,000 to +3,000)

The Labor Department's initial estimate on fourth quarter nonfarm productivity is expected to be revised up to a 4.8 percent rate of growth based on the upward revision in real GDP for the period. (Forecast range: 3.2 to 5.1 percent rate) At the same time, economists are predicting that unit labor costs will fall at a 2.3 percent rate in the fourth quarter. This would be more than twice as fast as the initial estimate indicated a month ago. (Forecast range: -3.0 to -1.0 percent rate)

The market consensus is looking for $4.2 billion increase in consumer installment credit for the month of January. This reflects a sharp drop in motor vehicle sales for the month and the corresponding decline in credit demand. (Forecast range: $0.0 to $9.0 billion)

Friday
Nonfarm payroll employment is expected to increase 10,000 in February after declining 89,000 in the previous month. This meager gain is statistically insignificant, but psychologically very important for market players. (Forecast range: -75,000 to 100,000) Factory payrolls are still expected to decline 40,000 in February, but this would be smaller than the 89,000-drop posted in January. (Forecast range: -50,000 to -15,000)

The consensus forecast shows that market players are looking for civilian unemployment rate to increase to 5.8 percent in February after dipping to 5.6 percent in January. Last month, the labor force plunged; it wouldn't be unusual to see a reversal. (Forecast range: 5.6 to 5.9 percent)

Average hourly earnings are predicted to edge up 0.3 percent in February after remaining unchanged in the previous month. In any case, the expected rise is in line with the average for the past year. (Forecast range: 0.2 to 0.4 percent) The average workweek is expected to edge up 6 minutes to 34.1 hours from 34 hours in January.