3/29/10 – theGrio & CNBC Market Update

VIDEO - This week, investors can expect new reports on nationwide trends in the housing market, consumer confidence, and unemployment...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

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

CNBC’s Shartia Brantley reports:

The financial markets will be closed on Friday in observance of Good Friday, but investors must analyze earnings reports from semiconductor manufacturer Micron Technology and used car dealer CarMax.

This week, investors can expect new reports on home prices, consumer confidence, and unemployment.

Will the unemployment rate improve? We’ll find out Friday with the March 2010 Employment Situation Summary from the Dept. of Labor. In February, unemployment stood unchanged from the previous month at 9.7 percent. Construction and information services suffered the biggest job losses nationwide.

African-American unemployment remained high, dipping to 15.8 percent overall. Black teens continue to be the hardest-hit demographic, although unemployment in that group declined to 42 percent. Congressional Black Caucus members continue to press for legislation to address job losses in the black community.

On Tuesday, the January 2010 Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices—— will be released, offering key indicators of trends in home prices. The 20-City Composite Index, covering home prices in twenty metro areas such as Atlanta, Cleveland, and Charlotte, declined only 3.1 percent year-to-year in December 2009. For housing investors, the Index showed a 2.9 percent decline in home rates of return year-to-year, indicating significant stabilization of the nationwide housing market from previous quarters.

And finally, we’ll check the pulse of the consumer with the March 2010 Consumer Confidence Index from The Conference Board. The February 2009 report had a reading of 46 (1985=100) as consumers were generally pessimistic about their income and job prospects. February’s reading marked a turning point from a months-long trend of rising optimism, with an 18.6 percent decline month-to-month.

Watch the video, exclusively on theGrio.com.

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