Coming up: U.S. retail sales, PPI, jobless claims
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. retail sales likely rose in November because of strong demand for autos, wholesale prices probably fell last month and weekly jobless claims were little changed, according to the forecast of economists surveyed by MarketWatch. All three reports will be released at 8:30 a.m. by the U.S. government. The most important of the three reports, retail sales, is expected to show a 0.4% increase in November. Excluding autos, however, sales may have fallen 0.2%. The producer price index, meanwhile, is forecast to fall 0.5% in November, mainly because of lower energy costs. Excluding energy, the PPI is seen rising 0.2%. And weekly jobless claims are projected to total about 370,000, the same as in the prior week.