The Week Ahead

Eye on consumers

U.S. consumers’ sunny disposition since the presidential election is showing few signs of dimming.

Economists predict that the Conference Board’s latest consumer confidence index, due out Tuesday, will show confidence was little changed from February’s reading, which was the highest in more than 15 years. The index measures consumers’ assessment of current conditions and their expectations for the future.

Slower growth?

Economists project that the U.S. economy’s rate of growth slowed in the last three months of 2016.

They expect that growth, as measured by the gross domestic product, increased at a 2 percent rate in the fourth quarter. That’s slightly better than January’s estimate, which called for growth of 1.9 percent in the October-December quarter. The Commerce Department reports its final estimate of economic growth for the fourth quarter on Thursday.

GDP

seasonally adjusted annual rate

Wallet check

The Commerce Department delivers on Friday its tally of how Americans’ personal income changed in February.

Income growth accelerated slightly in January, rising 0.4 percent. That was slightly better than the gains in the previous two months. Yet rising inflation is offsetting some of those gains. Adjusted for taxes and price increases, Americans’ incomes actually slipped 0.2 percent in January, the largest decline in more than three years.