Business Week Index

THE WEEK AHEAD

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Tuesday, Oct. 21, 8:30 a.m. EDT -- The trade balance for goods and services in

August is expected to show a deficit of $10 billion, based on the median

forecast of economists surveyed by MMS International, a unit of The McGraw-Hill

Companies. The July deficit swelled to $10.3 billion from $8.3 billion in June.

August exports are projected to have risen to $78 billion, after dropping to

$77.4 billion in July. Imports are expected to have risen to $88.2 billion,

after jumping to $87.7 billion in July. The way the third-quarter trade gap is

shaping up, trade will provide a drag on third-quarter growth in real gross

domestic product, scheduled for release on Oct. 31.

FEDERAL BUDGET

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2:00 p.m. EDT -- For September, the final month of the 1997

fiscal year, the Treasury is expected to report a deficit of $46 billion, based

on the results of the MMS survey, compared to a gap of $35.3 billion in

September, 1996. If the projection is on the mark, the 1997 deficit will total

$29 billion, the lowest for any fiscal year since 1974. Moreover, the deficit

as a percentage of gross domestic product will fall to only 0.4%. Given

continued strong growth into 1998, the deficit for fiscal 1998 should at least

equal that performance. Since the report is the last for the fiscal year, there

is often a reporting delay, as the final accounts are reconciled.

UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS

Thursday, Oct. 23, 8:30 a.m. EDT -- First-time filings for jobless benefits in

the week ended Oct. 18 are expected to have remained close to their recent

weekly average of about 310,000. The September average of claims stood at

308,000, the lowest for any month since 1989, suggesting that labor markets

continue to tighten. Recent claims numbers, which tend to foreshadow movements

in the unemployment rate, suggest that joblessness will fall further in coming

months, from 4.9% in September. The claims data will be increasingly important

to Wall Street in coming weeks, given the Federal Reserve chairman's focus on

labor markets in recent congressional testimony.