The Business Week Ahead

A week filled with data will culminate in Friday's employment report where respectable strength is expected. Pending home sales lead off on Monday followed on Tuesday with construction spending, both offering the latest on the housing sector where recent data have been uneven. Factory data have mostly been in clear retreat including the ISM manufacturing index where another sub-50 contraction is expected in Tuesday's report. And the news is expected to improve a bit on Thursday with ISM's non-manufacturing report where growth is expected steady at a moderate pace, growth that would help confirm confidence in the domestic economy. What has not been slowing is the labor market which has continued to improve. Econoday's consensus for Friday's non-farm payroll headline at 190,000 in what would be a solid increase from December's 151,000 and perhaps enough to revive the chances of a rate hike at the March FOMC.