1/3/11 – theGrio & CNBC Market Update

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Last week there were a slew of economic reports for investors to digest during the final week of 2010 trading. Home prices fell 1.3 percent in October, marking 4 straight months of decline.

Consumer confidence fell unexpectedly in December due to labor market concerns, and US retail sales rose 4.8 percent for the week ended December 25th. For the first trading week of 2011, investors await quite a few economic reports. Where are the jobs? We’ll find out with the December jobs report. In November the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, as 50,000 private sector jobs were created. African-American unemployment edged up to 16 percent, while Black teen unemployment declined to 46.5 percent, but remains the highest of any group.

We’ll get a read on the economy with the December manufacturing and service sector reports from the institute for supply management. In November manufacturing activity slowed down slightly with a reading of 56.6, but still marked 16 months of expansion.

We’ll gain insight on consumer finances with the November consumer credit report — which tracks credit card, auto and student loan debt. In October consumer credit increased by 3.4 billion dollars driven student loans. Americans carry more than 2.4 trillion dollars of debt