The Week Ahead...

Economic growth is soft and employment growth may be slowing. A solid but unspectacular employment report is expected for Friday with the Econoday nonfarm consensus at 188,000. Still, strength at this level is respectable and could revive talk of a rate hike at the March FOMC. The week will begin with an ISM update on the manufacturing sector where, hit by weak exports and a weak energy sector, a third month of contraction is expected. Construction, in contrast, has been a plus for the economy with the latest spending data also to be posted on Monday. And, perhaps the most consistently strong of any indicator and reflecting the strength of the domestic economy — the ISM non-manufacturing report — will be posted on Wednesday. Thursday will see productivity and costs, a report where low growth is taking a toll, and international trade on Friday where both imports and especially exports have been slowing.