OPINION

Economic Forecasts for the Week of September 1st and 8th

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.
Here are my forecasts for upcoming economic data.
Forecast Prior Observation Consensus
Week of September 1
September 1
Labor Day
September 2
Markit PMI Manufacturing Index - August 57.5 55.8 57.8
ISM (Mfg) - August 57.1 57.1 56.8
ISM Prices 58.0 59.5 58.0
Construction Spending - July 0.8% -1.8 0.9
September 3
Auto Sales* - August 16.60M 16.48 16.60
Car Sales 8.00 8.00
Truck Sales 8.60 8.49
*SAAR, as published by Motor Intelligence
ADP Employment Report - August 120K 218 223
Factory Orders - June 11.1% 1.6 10.9
Durable Goods Orders
Nondurable Goods Orders
September 4
Initial Unemployment Claims 302K 298 300
International Trade - July -$43.0B -41.5 -42.3
Productivity - Q2 (r) 2.5% 2.5 2.4
Unit Labor Costs 0.6 0.6 0.5
ISM Services - August 57.2 58.7 57.5
September 5
Nonfarm Payrolls - August 220K 209 230
Private 210 198 220
Core Private* 170 164
Manufacturing 15 28 20
Unemployment 6.1% 6.2 6.1
Average Workweek 34.5Hr 34.5 34.5
Average Hourly Earnings 0.2% 0.2 0.2
*Core Private equals Private less Medical, Social Assistance, and Temp Services
Week of September 8
September 8
Consumer Credit - July $17.2B 17.3 17.2
September 9
NFIB Small Business Optimism Index - August 95.7 95.7
JOLTS - July 4.721 4.671
September 10
Wholesale Inventories - July 0.4% 0.3 0.4
September 11
Treasury Budget - August -$106B -94.6
September 12
Retail Sales - August 0.3% 0.0 0.3
Retail Sales, ex Autos 0.3 0.1 0.3
Export Prices -August -0.1% 0.0 -0.1
Import Prices -0.8 -0.2 -0.4
Business Inventories - July 0.4 0.4 0.5
Michigan Consumer Sentiment - Sept (p) 83.5 82.5
Peter Morici is a professor at the University of Maryland Smith School of Business, former Chief Economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission, and five-time winner of the MarketWatch best forecaster award.