This Week: New home sales, Facebook earns, GDP
A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:
SALES REBOUND?
Despite a dearth of homes on the market, sales of new U.S. homes have been declining lately.
Sales slipped 0.6 per cent in February, the third straight monthly drop, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 618,000. The sales decline comes as mortgage rates have been mostly rising. Even so, economists predict the Commerce Department will report Tuesday that sales of new homes rose in March.
New home sales, seasonally adjusted annual rate, by month:
Oct. 616,000
Nov. 711,000
Dec. 653,000
Jan. 622,000
Feb. 618,000
March (est.) 627,000
Source: FactSet
FACING QUESTIONS
Facebook has been on the hot seat lately amid heightened scrutiny over its handling of its users’ private data.
During his two-day testimony before Congress earlier this month, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said regulation of the social network is “inevitable.” Facebook reports first-quarter results Wednesday. Investors will be listening for any new details on how the user data fallout is affecting the company’s business.
EYE ON THE ECONOMY
The Commerce Department delivers its latest quarterly estimate of U.S. economic growth Friday.
Economists project that the economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.2 per cent in the first quarter. That would be down from the previous three quarters, when the economy posted its strongest growth in more than a decade.
GDP, seasonally adjusted annual rate, by quarter:
Q4 2016: 1.8
Q1 2017: 1.2
Q2 2017: 3.1
Q3 2017: 3.2
Q4 2017: 2.9
Q1 2018 (est.): 2.2
Source: FactSet