Week Ahead: What the Fed Will Be Watching

Jeremy Glaser: For Morningstar, I'm Jeremy Glaser. Welcome to The Week Ahead, our quick take on what investors should have on their radar screens for the week starting Sept. 28.

As the month closes out, we'll get a fair amount of new data this week.

September's jobs report is due Friday. After August's decent numbers, we'll be watching to see if the employment momentum can continue. The Fed said they were looking for further improvement in the labor market before moving to raise short-term rates, so this report will be a key piece of data that will help determine if a 2015 hike is still on the table.

Personal income and spending data will be reported Monday. Although this data series can be volatile on a month-to-month basis, we expect to see continued year-over-year growth in both metrics around 3%.

Another interesting item in this report is the personal consumption expenditures price index, which is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation. Signs that inflation is picking up could lead the central bank to act soon. But keep in mind that another low reading is unlikely to stop the Fed in its tracks. Janet Yellen has made it clear that the bank is not waiting until inflation hits the bank's 2% target. They just need to be confident that it is on track to move to that level.

The closely watched ISM index will give us a snapshot of the strength of the manufacturing sector. The index has slipped in 2015 on the back of low commodity prices, but there have been signs of stabilization elsewhere in the manufacturing sector, and we're looking for more signs of that in this data.

There is also a bit of housing data this week, with the Case-Shiller home price index and pending home sales due.

It will be a quiet week on the earnings front.

Stay tuned to Morningstar for our take on all of these stories throughout the week.