Schedule for Week of August 22, 2021

The key reports this week are the second estimate of Q2 GDP, July New and Existing Home sales, and Personal Income and Outlays for July.

For manufacturing, the August Richmond and Kansas City Fed surveys will be released.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak on “The Economic Outlook” at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday.

—– Monday, August 23rd —–

8:30 AM ET: Chicago Fed National Activity Index for July. This is a composite index of other data.

Existing Home Sales10:00 AM: Existing Home Sales for July from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The consensus is for 5.81 million SAAR, down slightly from 5.86 million last month.

The graph shows existing home sales from 1994 through the report last month.

Housing economist Tom Lawler expects the NAR to report 5.86 million SAAR.

—– Tuesday, August 24th —–

New Home Sales10:00 AM: New Home Sales for July from the Census Bureau.

This graph shows New Home Sales since 1963. The dashed line is the sales rate for last month.

The consensus is for 690 thousand SAAR, up from 676 thousand in June.

10:00 AM: Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for August.

—– Wednesday, August 25th —–

7:00 AM ET: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

8:30 AM: Durable Goods Orders for July from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for a 0.2% decrease in durable goods orders.

—– Thursday, August 26th —–

8:30 AM: Gross Domestic Product, 2nd quarter 2021 (second estimate). The consensus is that real GDP increased 6.7% annualized in Q2, up from the advance estimate of 6.5% in Q2.

8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  The consensus is for a increase slightly to 350 thousand from 348 thousand last week.

11:00 AM: the Kansas City Fed manufacturing survey for August.

Thursday through Saturday: Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, Macroeconomic Policy in an Uneven Economy

—– Friday, August 27th —–

8:30 AM ET: Personal Income and Outlays, July 2021. The consensus is for a 0.2% increase in personal income, and for a 0.3% increase in personal spending. And for the Core PCE price index to increase 0.3%.

10:00 AM: Speech, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, The Economic Outlook, At the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium

10:00 AM: University of Michigan’s Consumer sentiment index (Final for August). The consensus is for a reading of 70.9.