TheGrio and CNBC team up to deliver a weekly report of money matters and market updates for our community.

CNBC’s Shartia Brantley reports:

Last week investors had several data points to analyze.The federal reserve released its Beige Book said the economy continues to grow but there are widespread signs of deceleration. Americans cut debt by 3.6 billion dollars in July marking six consecutive months of decline and new claims for jobless benefits fell by 27,000, much more than expected. In the week ahead investors await reports on small business, inflation and consumer sentiment.

The pulse of small business with the August sentiment survey from the NFIB states that in July small business optimism dropped nearly one point to a 88.1 reading, the second month of decline which reflects the companies’ continued pessimism about the economy and reluctance to invest in equipment and hire workers.

The August Consumer Price Index report tracks price changes for food, clothing and energy. In July, prices rose .03 of a percent, the first increase in four months which helped to calm market fears about deflation.

How do you feel about the economy? We’ll find out with the September Consumer Sentiment report. In August, Consumer Sentiment improved to a 68.9 reading. Consumer sentiment is a major gauge for consumer spending which makes up nearly 70 percent of our economic activity.