Next Week: Producer prices, consumer prices, retail sales

A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming next week.

Inflation barometer

The Labor Department releases its producer price index for December on Tuesday.

The index measures inflation at the wholesale level, before businesses pass costs on to consumers. Economists predict that wholesale prices rose at a higher pace last month than in November.

Producer price index, annual percent change, not seasonally adjusted:

July 2.4

Aug. 2.0

Sept. 1.9

Oct. 2.4

Nov. 3.0

Dec. (est.) 3.5

Source: FactSet.

Eye on inflation

The Labor Department issues its December report on consumer prices on Wednesday.

Economists expect inflation edged higher to 2.8% in December. The rate of inflation has been slowly rising since October. That has raised warning flags for the Federal Reserve, which cut interest rates three times in 2024, but has signaled that it will proceed cautiously in 2025.

Consumer price index, annual percent change, not seasonally adjusted:

July 2.9

Aug. 2.5

Sept. 2.4

Oct. 2.6

Nov. 2.7

Dec. (est.) 2.8

Source: FactSet.

Retail review

The Commerce Department releases its monthly snapshot of U.S. retail sales on Thursday.

Analysts forecast that retail sales edged lower in December after rising a month earlier. Consumers have generally kept spending, despite the cumulative impact of three years of excess inflation and high interest rates.

Retail sales, monthly percent change, seasonally adjusted:

July: 1.2

Aug.: -0.1

Sept.: 0.9

Oct.: 0.5

Nov.: 0.7

Dec. (est.) 0.5

Source: FactSet.