Business week ahead, Dec. 24-28

KEY EVENT: It’s a traditionally slow Christmas week for economic news and corporate earnings releases, but there is still an important update on Long Island unemployment on Thursday and several closely watched reports on housing.

MONDAY: An update on U.S. economic activity in November from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Also, the stock exchanges and bond markets close early for Christmas Eve.

TUESDAY: World financial markets closed for Christmas.

WEDNESDAY: S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home prices for October. In the previous report, for September, New York metropolitan home prices hit their highest point in 11 years.

THURSDAY: The state Labor Department releases unemployment rates in November for Nassau, Suffolk and Long Island as a whole. In October, the Long Island jobless rate was 3.1 percent, a 17-year low. The jobless rate has dropped for four months in a row. Also, jobless benefits claims for the week ended Dec. 22 from the U.S. Labor Department, new-home sales for November from the Commerce Department and single-family home prices for October from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

FRIDAY: The National Association of Realtors releases November pending home sales. The forward-looking report is an indicator of actual home sales in three to six months.