Business week ahead, Jan. 21-25

KEY EVENT: The state Labor Department on Wednesday releases December unemployment rates for Nassau, Suffolk and Long Island as a whole. The local jobs picture got stronger as 2018 headed to the finish line, with the Long Island unemployment rate dropping to 3 percent in November, lowest for any month in 18 years.

MONDAY: U.S. financial markets closed for Martin Luther King Day.

TUESDAY: The National Association of Realtors posts existing-home sales for December. Earnings: Capital One Financial, Halliburton, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Stanley Black & Decker, Travelers.

WEDNESDAY: Huntington Library’s main branch on Main Street holds a free career-building seminar 7-8:30 p.m. that covers all aspects of getting a job, including resume writing, how to prepare for an interview and where to find job leads. To register, call 516-965-9594. Also, single-family home prices for November from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Earnings: Comcast, Ford, Procter & Gamble, Texas Instruments, United Technologies.

THURSDAY: Jobless benefits claims for the week ended Jan. 19 from the U.S. Labor Department. Also, leading economic indicators for December from the Conference Board. Earnings: American Airlines, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Intel, Starbucks, Union Pacific.

FRIDAY: Earnings from drugmaker AbbVie, Colgate-Palmolive and homebuilder D.R. Horton.