By WSJ Staff 

In the week ahead, the U.S. will see fresh data on the housing construction and the trade deficit, and the European Union will release its monthly survey of eurozone business and consumer confidence.

Tuesday: The U.S. Commerce Department publishes February housing construction data. Home building in the U.S. rose robustly in January, a sign that the housing market gained momentum in early 2019 as mortgage rates eased.

Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expect that construction declined in February.

Wednesday: The Commerce Department releases fresh trade data for January. A previous report showed that the U.S. trade deficit in goods hit a record in 2018. Fiscal stimulus led to faster economic growth, which in turn helped drive ramped-up imports. Exports also grew, but at a slower pace.

Economists polled by the Journal expect that the trade deficit narrowed.

Thursday: The Commerce Department publishes its final estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product growth. Its first estimate showed the economy grew at a 2.6% annualized rate in the fourth quarter from the previous three months. But new services-sector data showed Americans' spending in this area slowed sharply in the fourth quarter, suggesting the economy lost more momentum at the end of 2018 than previously believed. Economists polled by the Journal expect that growth was a slower 2.4% pace.

The European Commission will release its monthly survey of eurozone business and consumer confidence on Thursday. It is expected to show that while consumers became slightly more upbeat about their prospects in March, businesses took the opposite view, with the overall Economic Sentiment Indicator seen falling for a ninth straight month to 105.9 from 106.1 in February.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 24, 2019 19:56 ET (23:56 GMT)

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