This Week: Construction spending, Uber earns, jobs report

The Commerce Department issues its September snapshot of construction spending Monday

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

SPOTLIGHT ON CONSTRUCTION

The Commerce Department issues its September snapshot of construction spending Monday.

Spending increased 1.4% in August, led by a surge in single-family home construction. Strong demand for single-family homes has helped fuel new home construction. Meanwhile, spending on hotels, office buildings, shopping centers and other nonresidential projects has declined as the pandemic leads to more online shopping and working from home, and less travel.

Construction spending, monthly percent change, seasonally adjusted:

April -3.4

May -1.3

June 1.0

July 0.7

Aug. 1.4

Sept. (est.) 1.0

Source: FactSet

STILL IN THE RED

Wall Street expects Uber’s latest quarterly report card will show the ride-hailing company continues to rack up losses.

Analysts predict Uber will report Thursday that it booked a smaller loss in the third quarter versus a year earlier, even as its revenue declined. The company, which has yet to turn a profit, has struggled this year because millions of people have been staying home due to the pandemic. That has raised doubts that Uber can meet its goal of becoming profitable by 2021.

ALL ABOUT JOBS

Economists predict the pace of job growth fell in October.

They expect the Labor Department will report Friday that nonfarm employers added 650,000 jobs in October. That would be down from a gain of 661,000 in September and the fourth monthly decline in a row. Hiring has slowed nationally amid the coronavirus pandemic even as the unemployment rate has declined to 7.9% as of September.

Nonfarm payrolls, monthly change, seasonally adjusted:

May 2,725,000

June 4,781,000

July 1,761,000

Aug. 1,489,000

Sept. 661,000

Oct. (est.) 650,000

Source: FactSet