Tomorrow is going to be important.
Source: Thomson Reuters, The Day Ahead
• U.S. employers likely added 240,000 workers to their payrolls in December, according to a Reuters StarMine poll of analysts. The monthly jobs report is expected to provide the latest sign of the economy’s vigor, even though the figure would mark a step back from the out-sized 321,000 gain registered in November. Meanwhile, the Labor Department is expected to report that the unemployment rate slipped to 5.7 percent in December from 5.8 percent in November. Also, U.S. Commerce Department is expected to release wholesale inventories for November.
• Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, a dovish policymaker who rotates into a voting spot on the Fed’s policy-setting panel this year, is interviewed immediately after the monthly U.S. jobs report. Separately, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker discusses the economic outlook at the joint Virginia Bankers Association and Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
• Brazil’s inflation probably ended 2014 at 6.5 percent, very near the top-end of the government’s target range. Stubbornly high inflation has eroded business and consumer confidence, held back investments and prompted the central bank to lift interest rates to 11.75 percent.