By Janet H. Cho

Stock futures drifted lower on Sunday as a big week of economic reports is about to begin, including new government data on jobs and inflation.

Shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down less than 0.1%; S&P 500 futures were fell 0.1%; and Nasdaq futures were down 0.2%.

On Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the November jobs report, and on Thursday, it will release the consumer price index for November. Both updates were delayed by the 43-day government shutdown.

Stocks were mixed last week as investors wait to see whether a Santa Claus rally will materialize. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% in its third consecutive weekly gain. It was the largest three-week point gain since the week ending July 3, and the largest three-week percentage gain since the week ended July 11, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The Dow is up 13.9% so far this year.

But disappointing tech earnings weighed on the two other main indexes. The S&P 500 fell 0.6% last week, snapping a two-week winning streak. It was the largest one-week point and percentage decline since the week ending Nov. 21. The S&P 500 is up 16.1% this year.

The Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.6% for the week, also snapping a two-week winning streak and posting the largest one-week point and percentage decline since the week ended Nov. 21. The Nasdaq is up 20.1% this year.

Economists anticipate a 50,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls in November, down from September's 119,000 jobs increase. They expect the unemployment rate to stay at 4.4%.

Thursday's CPI is projected to increase to 3.1% from a year ago, up from 3% in September.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday cautioned that some skepticism may be warranted in assessing incoming economic data, including October and November employment data delayed by the shutdown and federal staff reductions.

"There are very technical reasons about the way data are collected in some of these measures, both in inflation and in the labor market, so that the data may be distorted, and not just sort of more volatile, but distorted," he said.

Because data wasn't collected in October and half of November, Fed officials will need to use a "somewhat skeptical eye" to evaluate the economic indicators at their January meeting, Powell added.

In this week's housing market news, the National Association of Home Builders will releases its Housing Market Index for December on Monday, and the National Association of Realtors will report November existing-home sales on Friday. Home builders Lennar will report quarterly results on Tuesday, and KB Home will report results on Thursday.

Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 14, 2025 18:28 ET (23:28 GMT)

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