The Entire Economy in One Place

Explore how to navigate the Bureau of Labor Statistics website to access consumer price index and employment data, view current and next releases, and interpret charts and publications.

Track the weekly initial jobless claims released every Thursday at 8:30 a.m. eastern time to gauge early unemployment trends, first-time claims, and labor market conditions.

Analyze continuing jobless claims to gauge the employment market by tracking how many unemployed individuals still receive benefits, and compare trends with initial claims to forecast the jobs report.

Compute the four-week average of initial jobless claims to smooth weekly spikes and reveal trends, including a recent plateau near 220,000 to 250,000 that informs your investments.

Understand how the JOLTS job openings indicator, released monthly by the BLS, signals the labor market and helps predict the jobs report.

Analyze the U-6 unemployment rate and its components, including marginally attached workers and part-time for economic reasons, and see how openings reveal the true labor market beyond the headline.

Examine how nonfarm payrolls measure monthly employment changes excluding farming and present the headline number of jobs added.

Private nonfarm payrolls show jobs outside agriculture and government, with the private sector driving most gains. Post-pandemic, monthly gains often exceed 400k, signaling a healthy economy.

government payrolls are smaller than private sector jobs and show waves of hiring and spikes driven by policy, underscoring the private sector as the main engine of employment.

Explore manufacturing payrolls within non-farm payrolls, showing how manufacturing hiring signals investment and future confidence amid policy boosts and a resilient economy, despite services dominating the economy.

Measure the US participation rate, a key labor-supply indicator, revealing the share of the working-age population who are either working or seeking work, with those not actively searching excluded.

Track average hourly earnings month over month and its impact on inflation, as wage inflation proves sticky and closely monitored by the Fed, with year over year context.

Explore how the U.S. average weekly hours in the non-farm sector signals labor shortages, rising hours, and shifting participation, guiding short- and long-term investment decisions.

Examine unit labor costs quarter over quarter as an annualized leading inflation indicator, showing how higher wages push prices up and shape Fed policy.

Explore how the consumer price index compiles 250+ components and uses weights to measure price movements, highlighting owners equivalent rent, food, energy, and used cars.

The CPI month-over-month reveals current price trends and offers clearer inflation signals than year-over-year data; small, steady monthly moves around 0.2-0.3% support growth while avoiding job and profit risks.

Analyze the core CPI month-over-month, excluding food and energy, and why the Fed relies on it to gauge policy impact. Learn how 0.1–0.2% vs 0.4–0.5% readings steer markets.

Explore the core consumer price index year-over-year, excluding food and energy, and how core CPI informs monetary policy decisions. Understand volatility and the 2–3% target for policy impact.

Explore real earnings month-over-month from the CPI report, showing how inflation-adjusted wages impact purchasing power, consumption, and growth linked to productivity.

The producer price index, a leading indicator for consumer prices, tracks year-over-year and month-over-month changes, showing how rising producer costs transfer to the CPI amid high inflation.

examine the core producer price index year over year, excluding food and energy, and note its relative stability around 2% with recent declines shaping inflation trends and policy expectations.

Explore the producer price index month over month and energy-driven spikes. Understand how headline versus core numbers show volatility and move markets for traders.

Analyze the core PPI month-over-month and the PPI excluding food, energy, and transportation, then compare to core CPI to gauge volatility and Fed policy implications.

Explore the U.S. import price index month over month and export price index to understand inflation signals, highlighting commodity and energy trends as early indicators before PPI and CPI.

Analyze month over month export price index movements. Explain how 2022 spikes affected profits and GDP, and discuss exchange rates' impact on exporters and investors.

Learn how the ISM report presents manufacturing and services PMI indicators, inspect headline numbers, components, and historical movements, and navigate the ISM site to view reports and charts.

Explore the ISM manufacturing PMI, a first of the month 10 a.m. eastern time report summarizing new orders, production, employment, supplier deliveries, and inventories to reveal manufacturing sentiment and trend.

Analyze the ISM manufacturing PMI employment index, revealing managers' feelings about employment, contraction below 50 and expansion above, and how labor market dynamics shape hiring outlook.

The ISM manufacturing new orders index tracks customer demand; readings above 50 signal expansion, but the trend shows a drop from about 70 to below 50, signaling contraction.

Examine the ISM manufacturing prices index to understand how pricing power signals inflation, with a focus on 2021–2022 peaks and the potential implications for consumer prices and markets.

Analyze the ISM non-manufacturing PMI, a four-item, 25% each, services index measuring business activity, new orders, employment, and supplier deliveries, currently around 56.7 and a 55 plateau.

Explore ISM non-manufacturing business activity index for services and its growth and outsourcing implications. See how higher activity aligns with the headline number and how declines may signal market risk.

Analyze the ISM non-manufacturing employment index, showing that 50 marks contraction or expansion, with post-pandemic averages near 50 and weaker service payrolls due to hiring challenges.

Analyze the ISM non-manufacturing new orders within the services PMI to illustrate how recent readings signal a slowing U.S. services sector and potential GDP contraction risks.

Analyze the ISM non-manufacturing prices index for the services sector, noting prices above 50 signal expansion and plateaued 2022 pricing toward normalization, guiding CPI/PPI expectations.

Explore S&P Global's PMI indicators and the United States services PMI report, with data releases, full reports, explanations, and analysis of global economic data.

Track the manufacturing PMI by S&P Global and its 15-minute head start before ISM. Readings above 50 signal expansion, below 50 signal contraction, with the PMI aligning with ISM trends.

Analyze the U.S. services purchasing managers index from the S&P Global report and the ISM, highlighting weighting by company size, the composite PMI, and signs of deteriorating economic momentum.

Analyze the U.S. S&P Global Composite PMI, merging manufacturing and services to show economic trends, recovery, and latest contraction and employment implications.

Explore the University of Michigan's consumer survey indicators, featuring a clean homepage with three monthly reports (preliminary, mid month, final) and accessible tables, charts, and release dates.

Present the University of Michigan sentiment survey's current conditions and outlook, emphasizing that the middle-month preliminary reading drives market moves amid inflation, war, and oil price shifts.

Explore how Michigan consumer sentiment, the second current-conditions indicator in the Michigan Economic Survey, shapes perception of current conditions and expectations through preliminary and final readings.

Explore Michigan consumer expectations, contrasting current conditions with future outlook from 500 respondents, highlighting crisis-driven dips, a 2015 peak, and rising concerns about inflation.

Analyze Michigan inflation expectations from a 500-person monthly survey, showing how expectations exceed CPI, spike toward 5% after the pandemic, then ease.

Analyze Michigan's five-year inflation expectations to show consumer sentiment, from historical 2.4–2.6% to a recent rise above 3.2–3.4%, and stabilization near 2.8%.

Explore census data through the census bureau portals to access economic indicators like retail sales and durable goods, with links to tables, charts, and Excel downloads.

Analyze retail sales month over month and core retail sales to reveal how consumer spending evolves, as a leading indicator, accounting for inflation and Census Bureau data.

Measure core retail sales excluding autos to show month-over-month growth and resilience. Indicate sustained consumer spending and a steady picture even as auto sales slow, informing Fed tightening.

Track how retail control measures the total value of items sold month over month and informs the PCE and Fed inflation outlook, compared with CPI.

Explore durable goods orders month over month to gauge manufacturing health and consumer outlook, highlighting big-ticket items like cars and refrigerators, with core measures excluding defense and aircraft.

Examine core durable goods month-over-month trends, excluding transportation, highlighting a steadier post-pandemic picture driven by machinery and capital expenses, with a slowing path into 2022.

Show how excluding defense highlights ups and downs caused by aircraft, while defense orders add a stabilizing floor for manufacturing amid a broader slowdown.

Examine US durable goods orders, non defense ex aircraft, month over month to reveal the core economic momentum. Despite fluctuations, the core trend shows resilience supporting ongoing spending and jobs.

Analyze construction spending MoM from the Census Bureau alongside building permits and new home sales from the MBA to gauge the real estate market, noting revisions and month-to-month volatility.

Building permits act as a leading indicator for construction and the economy; headline data show trends in both permits and housing starts, with demand fading as rates rise.

Analyze how housing starts track building permits to signal future economic trends, showing long-term declines, knee-jerk reactions, and the persistent housing shortage shaping demand.

Examine existing home sales, the first housing indicator from the National Association of Realtors, and how headline versus monthly data reveal effects of higher interest rates on the housing market.

Track new home sales as annualized figures that follow building permits and starts. Reveal housing market momentum while showing the lag behind permits and starts.

Examine pending home sales, noting month-over-month limits and the need to infer trends from broader data, with declines seen but not market moving per the National Association of Realtors.

Access weekly surveys from the Mortgage Bankers Association in the news and research section, view summaries of the weekly surveys, and subscribe to the weekly survey for full data.

Explore the Mortgage Bankers Association mortgage applications indicators, including the purchase, refinance, and market indexes, plus the 30-year rate, and their week-over-week interpretation.

Explore the 30-year mortgage rate, its weekly median, and how swings from about 4 to 5% toward 6% influence refinancing, housing demand, and the economy.

The MBA purchase index tracks weekly mortgage applications for new home purchases across conventional and government loans, signaling impending home sales and housing demand trends.

Analyze the US mortgage refinancing index, its inverse relationship with interest rates, and why homeowners refinance to lower payments or extract home equity during crises.

Explore the US mortgage market index and its components—the purchase and refinancing indices—to gauge mortgage demand, with refinancing driving trends and signaling bank stock implications.

Navigate the Bureau of Economic Analysis data from the Department of Commerce, accessing GDP and key indicators via dashboards, data by topic, and the US economy at a glance.

Examine gross domestic product as a monthly, quarterly indicator with three readings—preliminary, revision, final—and key indicators like real GDP, GDP price index, PC prices, and real consumer spending.

Define personal consumption expenditure prices and explain how they measure consumer price changes, weighted by total expenditures, to track inflation and purchasing trends including quarter over quarter GDP relationships.

Analyze the GDP price index, the broadest inflation indicator, and its quarter over quarter measures of annualized price changes for all goods and services in gross domestic product.

Explore real consumer spending in the US, the monthly, inflation-adjusted measure of consumption including durables and non-durables, and how quarter-over-quarter trends relate to GDP and prices.

Analyze the Fed's perspective on the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index and year-over-year inflation, comparing core and headline PCE with CPI trends and policy implications.

Analyze core pce price index year over year and month over month, excluding food and energy, to understand inflation trends and the Fed's impact.

Examine how personal income month over month drives consumer spending, the economy's core engine, including stimulus effects, and assess income as a predictor of future spending and purchasing power.

Explore how personal spending month over month shapes the economy and stock market, analyzing historical waves, post-pandemic surge, and implications for inflation, GDP, and policy.

Explore how Federal Reserve data from regional banks guide economic indicators, including the Beige Book, Philly Fed surveys, and regional manufacturing outlooks.

The Fed meeting, held eight times a year, sets monetary policy and triggers market moves via the 2 p.m. statement and the 2:30 p.m. Q&A.

Explore how FOMC minutes reveal detailed discussions, chart plots forecasting rate paths, and how data like CPI, PPI, PCE, and unemployment inform policy outlook and market expectations.

Analyze how the federal funds rate drives borrowing, lending, and investment decisions across the economy. Explore how rate hikes and quantitative easing shape inflation and market expectations.

Explore how regional Fed surveys, like the Philadelphia index, use zero as neutral to gauge manufacturing and services, tracking conditions, orders, prices, employment, and capex to inform policy.

Philly Fed business conditions show a positive services sector until 2022, when readings turn negative, signaling a rough outlook for service-related industries and marketing-heavy firms.

Evaluate the Philly Fed CapEx index to gauge capital expenditures over the next six months and what they signal about the economy and inflation under control.

The Philadelphia Fed employment indicates a favorable hiring outlook amid a tight labor market, with cyclical trends and strong long-term optimism for capital investments in manufacturing.

Analyze the Philadelphia Fed new orders indicator, noting a plateau around 20 with no clear trend, and explain its near-term implications alongside CapEx and employment signals.

The Philadelphia Fed prices paid indicator shows a cyclical history with a recent plateau and decline, signaling whether prices will slow and influence Fed policy on interest rates.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index is a monthly report tracking economic activity in the seventh district and identifying potential inflation, with trucking industry trends shaping its market impact.

The Richmond manufacturing index, a Fed survey of 100 firms, tracks shipments, new orders and employment. Recent readings show negative results, signaling slowing activity with a potential rebound into autumn.

Analyze the Richmond services index within the fifth district, comparing services to manufacturing trends. Highlight the post-pandemic slowdown and the need to track regional changes.

Richmond manufacturing shipments form 33% of the manufacturing index, moving with new orders and employment, hovering around the flatline and signaling 6 to 12 months of forward guidance.

Explore inflation-adjusted industrial production across manufacturers, mines, and utilities, and interpret year-over-year trends as the economy’s trajectory. Link capacity utilization to recoveries and the impact of crises and stimulus.

Track the capacity utilization rate as a key indicator of US production and demand, a potential leading indicator of inflation, shaping investor outlook for capital-intensive utilities, mines, and factories.

Explore miscellaneous indicators from diverse sources, learn to access reports via the issuer’s website, and see how crude oil inventories fit into the overall economy.

The three-month bill auction signals the rate investors demand, mirroring the federal funds rate as the government borrows to cover deficits and as quantitative easing shifts to tightening.

Examine the trade balance by comparing monthly imports and exports to reveal the United States' persistent deficit, with imports exceeding exports by about 40–60 billion and surges above 100 billion.

Gauges the current and future single-family sales from a builder perspective using a 900-builder survey, with 50 as neutral and readings above 50 signaling a favorable outlook.

Explore how CB consumer confidence acts as a leading indicator and major market mover, linking consumer mood to spending and shaping the economy.

Analyze how factory orders track changes in new purchase orders, including revisions to durable and non-durable goods, offering long-term insights while remaining a muted market mover.

Explore how the ADP nonfarm employment change report, derived from payrolls of about 400,000 companies, acts as a volatile predictor of government payrolls and why its methodology changes matter.

Analyze crude oil inventories from API and official reports to understand week-over-week moves, forecast versus actual, and their impact on oil prices, inflation, and market behavior.

Align your investing with a global financial market by reading U.S. indicators and PMIs alongside CPI, PPI, payrolls, and trade data, and watch central bank actions shape markets worldwide.

This video explores FXStreet calendar tabs beyond the investing calendar, highlighting US initial jobless claims and true range metrics; these indicators are for forex trading and outside this course scope.