Visit the Futures Calendar to know what economic indicator will be released today.
Report | Definition | Source | Frequency | Market Importance |
---|---|---|---|---|
Employment Report | A measure of net new jobs created, the unemployment rate, average hourly earnings and the length of the average workweek. | Labor Department | First Friday of the Month at 8:30 am EST | High. Considered the single best indicator of the health of the economy. |
Housing Starts and Building Permits | Measures privately owned housing starts authorized by building permits. | Census Bureau | Data from prior month comes out around the 18th at 8:30 am EST. | Some. Considered to be a good indicator of home sales and general spending. |
Producer Price Index | Measures the change in prices received by domestic producers in all stages of processing. | Labor Department | Data from prior month comes out around the 13th at 8:30 am EST. | High. Important measure of inflation. |
Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization | A measure of the change in the production of the nation’s factories, mines and utilities. | Federal Reserve | Data from prior month comes out around the 15th of the month at 9:15 am EST. | High. Considered to be a key factory-sector gauge. An inflationary indicator. |
NAPM | National manufacturing index based on a survey of purchasing managers at approximately 300 industrial companies. | NAPM | Data from prior month comes out on the first business day of the month at 10:00 am EST. | High. Considered to be the single best indicator of the condition of the factory sector. |
Chicago Purchasing Managers Index | Signals factory-sector expansion when it is above 50 and contraction below 50. | Chicago arm of the NAPM | Data for the current month is released on the last business day of the month at 10:00 am EST. | High. A good gauge of how the PMI is expected to be a few days later. |
New Home Sales | Measures the selling rate of new one-family houses. | Census Bureau | Around the end of the month at 10:00 am EST. | Some. Considered to be a good indicator of home sales and general spending. |
Initial Jobless Claims | Measures the number of people filing first time claims for state unemployment insurance. | Labor Department | Every Thursday at 8:30 EST. | Some. A good indicator of the monthly employment report. |
Durable Goods Orders | Measures the value of orders received by manufacturers for products that last more than 3 years. | Census Bureau | Data for the prior month comes out around the 26th of the month at 8:30 am EST. | Much. Considered to be a key factory-sector indicator. |
Existing Home Sales | A measure of the selling rate of preowned homes. | National Association of Realtors | Data for the prior month comes out around the 25th of the month at 10:00 am EST. | Some. Considered to be a good indicator of home sales and general spending. |
Redbook Retail Average | An index that reflects the same-store sales of a group of companies that account for 85% of the department store category in the Census Bureau’s monthly retail sales report. | LJR Redbook | Every Tuesday at 10:30 am EST. | Some. Important Spending Indicator with higher interest during peak sales seasons. |
Weekly Chain Store Sales | Sales results from seven major retailers. | Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UBS Warburg | Every Tuesday at 9:00 am EST. | Some. Important Spending Indicator with higher interest during peak sales seasons. |