Economy Week Ahead: Powell, Housing, Factories

Wednesday

U.K. consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in three decades in January. Inflationary pressure isn’t expected to have abated in February as the economy absorbed higher costs for natural gas, electricity, fuel and other goods and services—likely keeping the Bank of England on track for additional interest-rate increases this year.

U.S. new-home sales likely increased in February, according to economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, as builders stepped up construction and buyer demand remained strong. Demand for housing has been robust through much of the pandemic, though inventories of new homes for sale have been constrained by shortages of both supplies and labor.

Thursday

Surveys of purchasing managers at businesses in the U.S. and Europe are expected to record a modest slowdown in activity during the early weeks of March as an early response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and may also indicate that inflationary pressures have increased as supply chains face fresh disruption.

New orders for durable goods—products designed to last at least three years—are estimated to have declined in February after auto production was again held back by supply chain bottlenecks and Boeing Co. had a relatively weak month for aircraft orders. U.S. factories during the pandemic have had to contend with shortages of materials, shipping delays and trouble keeping enough workers on shop floors.

Friday

U.S. consumer confidence has soured in recent months amid four-decade-high inflation and a bleak assessment of long-term prospects for the economy. Add in new uncertainty generated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for the opening weeks of March is expected to post its worst reading since 2011.