Next Week: Retail sales, Fed policy update, existing home sales

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

Tracking retail sales

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

Retail sales rose 0.4% in October from the previous month, more evidence that healthy consumer spending is driving the economy’s steady growth. The increase was driven by stepped up spending at auto dealers, restaurants, and electronics and appliance stores. Economists project that retail sales rose 0.5% in November.

Retail sales, monthly percent change, seasonally adjusted:

June -0.3

July 1.2

Aug. -0.1

Sept. 0.8

Oct. 0.4

Nov. (est.): 0.5

Source: FactSet

The Fed speaks

Federal Reserve officials will wrap up a two-day meeting and issue an interest rate policy update Wednesday.

At their meeting last month, Fed officials reduced the central bank’s main interest rate by a quarter-point. That followed a larger half-point reduction in September. The central bank is widely expected to announce another rate cut, although some Fed officials suggested recently that they hadn’t yet made a final decision on whether to support a rate cut this month.

Housing update

The National Association of Realtors delivers its latest update on U.S. home sales trends Thursday.

Economists project that sales of previously occupied homes rose in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.01 million homes. Existing home sales rose in October, marking their first annual gain in more than three years, as home shoppers seized on easing mortgage rates and a pickup in properties on the market.

Existing home sales, in millions, seasonally adjusted annual rate:

June 3.90

July 3.96

Aug. 3.88

Sept. 3.83

Oct. 3.96

Nov. (est.) 4.01

Source: FactSet