Last week’s economic calendar painted a nuanced picture of the U.S. economy, reflecting a softening labor market, mixed consumer activity, and divergent signals from manufacturing and services sectors.

The first week of December delivered a series of key U.S. economic indicators, offering a clearer picture of the nation’s growth trajectory as the year draws to a close.

Markets had a shortened trading week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, but several key economic reports provided insight into inflation trends, consumer behavior, and business activity.

This week’s economic data releases offered a broad update on labor-market momentum, inflation pressures, and business-sector activity, particularly important because several reports were delayed during the recent government shutdown.

This week’s economic data offered a multifaceted view of market sentiment as investors weighed inflation risks, interest rate expectations, and energy supply dynamics. With the Federal Reserve maintaining a cautious stance, attention turned to Treasury auctions and oil inventories for signals on how financial and commodity markets are responding to evolving macroeconomic conditions.

Markets absorbed a week of mixed signals, with strength in headline data masking underlying fragility and inflation trends complicating the path forward.

U.S. consumer confidence fell modestly in October, with The Conference Board’s headline index easing to 94.6 from a revised 95.6 in September. The decline reflected weaker expectations for business, income, and employment over the next six months, while consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved slightly.

Economic developments during the week were shaped by key inflation data, central bank commentary, and disruptions caused by the ongoing government shutdown. Together, these events offered insight into the Federal Reserve’s evolving stance and the challenges of navigating a data-constrained environment.

The ongoing government shutdown has created a data vacuum, delaying key economic reports and clouding visibility for the Federal Reserve ahead of its next meeting. Markets now face the unenviable task of interpreting policy direction with limited official data, relying instead on supplemental and tangential indicators to gauge the economy’s trajectory.

Last week’s economic data painted a mixed picture of the U.S. economy.