Flow Of Economic Data Returning To Normal

The flow of economic information out of Washington, D.C., should resume this week after being almost completely shut down, first by a frigid budget stalemate and then by a record-setting winter storm.

But while at least a half-dozen economic reports are expected to be released, the Commerce and Labor departments are not back to normal yet.

Monthly reports on housing starts, international trade and business inventories are expected to be delayed because they have not been completed.

In other events this week:

Today

Martin Luther King Day; most financial markets open.

Tuesday

Pacific Northwest Ag Expo and Farm Forum opens at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena and the Spokane Convention Center, continuing through Thursday.

Commerce Department reports November housing starts.

National Potato Council annual meeting opens in Nashville, running through Jan. 20.

U.S. Department of Agriculture releases annual crop production summary, grain stocks and winter wheat reports.

ISO 9000 breakfast, starts 7:30 p.m., at the Business Training and Technology Center, N3939 Freya. Landry Smallfoot and Candace Baxter of the Washington Air National Guard will be the speakers. Call 533-4725 for reservations.

Wednesday

Michael Riehm, an architect from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, speaks at noon about managing rural growth to the Moscow-Latah County Economic Development Council. Cost: $9 at the University Inn Best Western in Moscow. Reservations: 208-885-3801.

Federal Reserve issues its quarterly Beige Book report on economic conditions in different regions of the country.

Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board holds public hearing at 10 a.m. in the Natural Resources Building in Olympia to consider a revised noxious weed list. Call Laurie Penders, 206-872-2972.

Thursday

The Small Business Development Center presents a course on mail order and direct mail marketing from 6-9 p.m. at SIRTI, 665 N. Riverpoint Blvd. Cost: $45; call 358-7544 for information and to register.

Labor Department reports weekly jobless claims for week ended Jan. 13 with additional data for weeks missed during government shutdown.

Friday

The first annual Spokane Leadership Forum opens at 7:30 a.m. in the Crescent Court, featuring author and civic planner David Chrislip. Sponsored by 14 Spokane organizations, the all-day event cost $45. Call Adeline Young at Leadership Spokane, 459-4116.

Gonzaga University School of Law presents a seminar titled “Take Control of Your Workload” from 8:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m. at the WestCoast Ridpath Hotel, 515 W. Sprague. Cost: $150, including continental breakfast, buffet lunch and program materials; call Marge Buck at 328-4220, ext. 3725 for information.

Commerce Department reports revised calculation of gross domestic product for the third quarter. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Lumber prices

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: On the shelf Business Week, Jan. 15: Century 21, formerly a division of insurance giant Met Life, now is headed by the founder of MTV. As you might suspect, the company’s image is changing, Business Week says. Forbes, Jan. 22: Amtrak wants to convert some of the power lines that run its trains in the Northeast to transmit electricity. Utility companies are appalled, Forbes says.

Sales kings Retail chains with the most total sales, as ranked by Business Rankings Annual. 1. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. 2. Kmart Corp. 3. Sears, Roebuck & Co. 4. Kroger Co. 5. Dayton Hudson Corp. (Mervyn’s, Target, Dayton’s, Hudson’s, and Marshall Field’s) 6. J.C. Penney Co.