An investor might shrug off one gloomy reading on the job market, service sector or manufacturing as an anomaly, but two starts to smell like a trend. With fears of recession at their highest levels yet, Wall Street hopes this week’s economic reports don’t turn the remaining optimists into doomsayers.On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management reports on U.S. manufacturing in February — most analysts are expecting contraction, after a modest uptick in January and contraction in December. They also expect to see another decline Wednesday in ISM’s gauge of February service sector activity, following a steep plunge in January.
December’s manufacturing contraction had been the first since January 2007, and the service sector’s recent contraction was its first in nearly five years.
Perhaps most significant for Wall Street, though, will be Friday’s February jobs report. On average, economists are forecasting a slight increase in payrolls, but many believe they will decline for a second straight month. Last month, the Labor Department revealed that there was a net jobs loss in January — the first in almost four years.
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