Traders will have Friday off this week for Christmas, but the four days leading up to that break will be chock full of economic data.

RBC Capital Markets notes that wholesale trade data is released on Monday, followed by retail trade numbers on Tuesday. RBC believes that Thursday will bring the most important release of the week, October’s GDP, “which will provide market watchers with a view on growth in the Canadian economy at the start of the fourth quarter.”

CIBC World Markets predicts that October’s GDP, “will look fairly tepid, particularly as it comes off a flat month for September.” And, BMO Nesbitt Burns agrees, noting, “It looks like another uninspiring month for Canadian growth in October, following a flat reading on GDP in September. We expect output to nudge up just 0.1% in the month, with activity restrained by declines in manufacturing shipments, exports, and housing starts. As well, rotating strikes by federal public service workers and the start of the NHL lock-out will also clip activity somewhat.”

“Retail sales data will show the extent to which ugly results on the export and manufacturing side are being offset by domestic spending,” says CIBC. “Tuesday’s sales data will add greater clarity to our forecast for October economic activity, and look to be quite healthy given a big rebound in auto sales.”

BMO Nesbitt expects strong auto sales, too, and adds that the results will also get a lift from the 4.8% rise in gasoline prices in the month. “However, other retailers are unlikely to post impressive gains, following a strong September performance.” And, it notes that wholesale trade actually has a larger weight in GDP than retail sales. On that front, it predicts, “Wholesale activity will be held back by the dual declines in shipments and exports in October – we are looking for a 0.4% drop.”

In the U.S., the important data releases will be concentrated toward the end of the week. RBC reports that final Q3 GDP numbers are due out on Wednesday, and, “Thursday will yield fresh data on durable goods orders for the month of November, new home sales in November, personal income and spending during the month of November, weekly jobless claims, and the December version of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey.”

BMO Nesbitt is looking for a 0.3% advance in November personal income, but adds spending is also likely to slow, to 0.3% from 0.7%, reflecting the cooling of retail sales during the month. And, it expects total durable goods orders to register a moderate 0.6% gain.

CIBC doesn’t expect to get a lot of use from these numbers. “Durable goods orders are so choppy and subject to revision that markets tend to need a big surprise to be impressed, while actual retail performance these days hasn’t been that correlated with consumer sentiment readings,” it says. “Thinning trading towards year end could, however, make for interesting times, particularly in what are already jumpy foreign exchange markets.”

The earnings release schedule is light next week, with many firms waiting until the new year to put out their next numbers. But, three technology firms — ATI Technologies Inc., Cognos Inc. and Solectron Corp. — are all on tap for Tuesday.