Personal Finance Advice and Commentary

we get a couple of opportunities this week to look at the Federal Reserve’s view.

This week, we’ll get reminders of the turbulent times in which we live. And that’s just the economy.

The economy has seen some clouds gathering lately. The question is whether what’s brewing is worse than what’s been forecast.

With baseball season now in full swing, the coming week’s lineup of economic reports features minor-leaguers. The best of the bunch is the government’s look at March retail sales, due Friday morning.

Is the economy on a winning streak, relatively speaking? This week’s jobs report might provide some clues.

This week, the highlight among scheduled economic data is the monthly jobs report, due at 8:30 a.m. Friday.

This week brings revised GDP for the fourth quarter, new home sales and consumer confidence.

The likely centerpiece of this week’s offerings is January retail sales from the Commerce Department, due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday.

This week brings an action-packed slate of economic reports. But the jobs report, due Friday from the Labor Department, is likely to be steal the show.

Housing is the focus of this week’s compressed schedule of economic reports.