The Business News Week Ahead

March is the month to watch in the week's upcoming data beginning with leading indicators from Switzerland and economic sentiment in the Eurozone, both on Monday. Also for March and also for Monday, preliminary German CPI data will be watched for initial virus-related price effects. The German unemployment rate will be Tuesday's highlight, having held long steady at 5.0 percent going into the virus. Also picking up March's effects will be Tuesday's monthly consumer confidence report from the US and Japan's Tankan survey which, on Wednesday, will be for the first quarter. The first March reading on Swiss manufacturing will also be posted Wednesday followed closely by Caixan's March PMI for Chinese manufacturing where forecasts believe the worst is already over. Weekly jobless claims in the US, which surged to well over 3 million in the prior week, will be posted on Thursday followed on Friday by the monthly US employment report, data for which, however, were sampled early in March before the bulk of layoffs hit.