That answer tops the agenda on the Reuters Business Calendar for the week of May 3rd.

#1

It's all about the jobs rebound.

The monthly U.S. jobs report - the most important snapshot of the economy - comes out Friday, May 7th.

Economists polled by Reuters predict 950,000 new jobs were created last month...and there are whispers out there that the number could be even bigger - like a million or more.

The unemployment rate is expected to maintain its steady decline to 5.7%.

But there's more under the hood than that headline unemployment figure.

Max Wolff of Systematic Ventures will also be looking close at a wider gauge of unemployment in the data, which includes the long-term unemployed, discouraged workers who stopped looking, and those working part-time but want to work full-time.

"Because part of what we've booked as unemployment gains are people giving up and quitting the formal economy, that makes us nervous because what we're actually measuring is that we're stopped measuring them, not that they're doing better. And I think with issues of inequality and social justice looming large, that sort of underclass, undercounted underclass, becomes very important to keep an eye on and official figures are notoriously not incredibly good at doing that."

#2

And that brings me to your big money number: 29 dollars and 96 cents.

That was the average hourly wage in March.

Have you noticed if your paycheck is getting bigger? Economists want to see if that number goes up and by how much... That could provide a clue on whether a tightening labor market is pushing up wages.

Some employers have complained they have to offer bigger paychecks to fill open jobs. Economists are concerned that higher wages, combined with all the government stimulus percolating through the economy, could set off a wave of inflation that not even the Federal Reserve can control.

#3

Moving away from the jobs report...the state of the services sector is one to watch. The Institute for Supply Management's services index comes out Wednesday.

With the services sector making up a huge swath of the economy and the hardest hit during the health crisis, market watchers are eager to see how the pace of recovery is going - now that vaccinated Americans are heading out to the many restaurants and bars that have reopened.

#4

Don't forget it's earnings season.

A meme and the big screen take focus Wednesday...

Wall Street is expecting theater chain and meme stock AMC to post a loss of 1.26 a share on revenues of $153 million. But just as important is the outlook. Investors will be eager to hear how fast AMC thinks customers will return now that they gotten used to watching new movies at home.

#5

Hollywood actress and entrepreneur Jessica Alba is bringing her consumer goods company Honest to Wall Street.

The Honest Company is looking for a market valuation of more than $1.5 billion in an IPO that's set to price on Tuesday.

Alba started the company back in 2011 to provide a healthier alternative for baby products and has since spread out into other body-care items.

That of course puts her in direct competition with global behemoths such as Unilever and Procter and Gamble.

The stock will list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol H-N-S-T.

Those are some of the events to look out for during the week.