This Week: Construction spending, Campbell's Co. earnings, November jobs report

A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week.

Under construction

The Commerce Department releases its latest snapshot of U.S. construction spending Monday.

Economists project that spending slipped 0.1% in October from the previous month. That would follow a 0.1% rise in September that nudged spending to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.15 billion. U.S. construction spending increased 4.6% in September from a year earlier.

Construction spending, monthly percent change, seasonally adjusted:

May 0.2

June -1.1

July 0.0

Aug. 0.1

Sept. 0.1

Oct. (est.) -0.1

Source: FactSet

Not just soup

The Campbell’s Co. serves up its latest quarterly report card Wednesday.

Wall Street analysts expect the company to report fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings of 87 cents per share on about $2.8 billion in revenue. That would fall short from its profit, but top its revenue in the same quarter last year. Campbell’s, which in November won shareholder approval to change its name from Campbell Soup, owns more than a dozen packaged food brands, including Pepperidge Farm cookies, V8 juice and Prego pasta sauce.

Eye on hiring

Economists predict hiring in the U.S. bounced back in November after a sharp slowdown the previous month.

They expect the Labor Department will report Friday that nonfarm employers added 177,500 jobs in November. That would follow a gain of only 12,000 jobs in October, when the effects of strikes and hurricanes left many workers temporarily off payrolls.

Nonfarm payrolls, monthly change, seasonally adjusted:

June 118,000

July 144,000

Aug. 78,000

Sept. 223,000

Oct. 12,000

Nov. (est.) 177,500

Source: FactSet