Home prices, General Mills earns, consumer spending

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

HOME PRICE MONITOR

A limited inventory of homes for sale coupled with strong demand has helped keep U.S. home prices climbing sharply.

S&P’s CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index tracks the value of homes in 20 major U.S. metropolitan areas. It jumped 21.2% in March from a year earlier, up from a 20.3% year-over-year increase in February. Economists project that April’s reading, which is due out Tuesday, will show another 21.2% increase in home prices from a year earlier.

S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index, annual percent change, by month:

Nov. 18.3

Dec. 18.5

Jan. 19.0

Feb. 20.3

March 21.2

April (est.) 21.2

Source: FactSet

CHEW ON THIS

Wall Street expects that General Mills closed out its last fiscal year on a strong note.

Analysts predict the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue increased from a year earlier. That would echo General Mills’ third-quarter results. The maker of Cheerios cereal and Blue Buffalo pet food raised its earnings forecast for 2022 in March, citing expectations for strong growth, in part due to higher prices. General Mills serves up its latest quarterly report card Wednesday.

INFLATION BELLWETHER

The Commerce Department delivers its May snapshot of consumer spending Thursday.

The report is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve as a barometer of inflation. While consumer spending has slowed on a monthly basis since climbing 2.1% in January, it rose a healthy 0.9% in April. Consumers’ willingness to keep spending freely despite inflated prices is helping sustain the economy, but could make the Fed’s goal of taming inflation even harder.

Consumer spending, monthly percent change, seasonally adjusted:

Dec. -0.9

Jan. 2.1

Feb. 0.6

March 1.4

April 0.9

May (est.) 0.7

Source: FactSet