This Week: Starbucks earns, Fed meeting, consumer spending
Jul 26, 2021, 6:10 AM | Updated: 6:39 am
A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:
BACK IN THE BLACK
Starbucks serves up its latest quarterly snapshot Tuesday,
Wall Street expects the cafe chain returned to a profit in the April-June quarter, after a loss in the same period last year when pandemic lockdowns forced many retailers to temporarily close or limit service. Starbucks posted a profit in the first three months of this year after four straight quarters of sales declines due to the pandemic.
ALL EYES ON THE FED
The Federal Reserve delivers an economic and interest rate policy update Wednesday.
After the June meeting of Fed policymakers, the central bank signaled it might raise its short-term interest rate twice by the end of 2023. In March, the Fed had indicated no rate hikes would occur before 2024. The Fed’s low-interest rate policies have helped fuel a swift rebound from the pandemic recession, but now the central bank is under pressure to address rising inflation.
CASH IN, CASH OUT
The Commerce Department issues its June snapshot of U.S. consumer spending Friday.
Consumer spending was flat in May with incomes dropping for a second month as the impact of the government’s pandemic stimulus payments waned. Inflation, however, posted a sizable gain with prices excluding food and energy jumping by the largest amount in nearly three decades. U.S. consumers account for 70% of economic activity, so the more they spend, the more the economy grows.
Consumer spending, monthly percent change, seasonally adjusted:
Jan. 3.3
Feb. -1.0
March 5.0
April 0.9
May 0.0
June (est) 0.7
Source: FactSet
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