Economic Calendar

What an economic calendar is

An economic calendar is a time-ordered list of scheduled releases — government statistics, central bank meetings, bond auctions — that markets watch for new information. Each entry usually includes the release time, the event name, the country, a consensus forecast, and, once released, the actual number.

The value of a calendar is twofold. First, it tells you what will break through the noise on a given day, so you can be ready rather than reactive. Second, by comparing forecast to actual, it shows you how the market is likely to reposition: releases that beat or miss expectations typically produce the largest price moves.

The events that matter most

US releases

• Non-farm payrolls (NFP). Released the first Friday of each month at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Headline jobs added, unemployment rate, and average hourly earnings. Routinely the largest single data release for US rates and the dollar.
• Consumer Price Index (CPI). Released monthly at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Headline and core inflation. The primary input for Fed expectations.
• Core PCE. The Fed's preferred inflation measure, released monthly.
• FOMC decision. Eight times a year. The Fed's policy rate decision is at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, followed by a press conference at 2:30 p.m.
• ISM manufacturing and services PMIs. Monthly leading indicators for the real economy.
• Retail sales. Monthly read on consumer spending.
• GDP. Quarterly, with advance, second, and third estimates released in sequence.

Other developed markets

• Eurozone. ECB rate decisions, ECB press conferences, HICP inflation, eurozone PMIs, German ZEW and Ifo indices.
• United Kingdom. Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee decisions, CPI, employment reports, retail sales.
• Japan. Bank of Japan decisions, Tokyo and national CPI, Tankan business survey, export data.
• Canada & Australia. Rate decisions from the BoC and RBA, along with their own CPI and employment releases.

Emerging markets

For emerging markets, the most-watched events are central bank decisions, CPI, and current-account data. China's monthly industrial production, retail sales, and trade balance are also widely followed globally because of their implications for commodities and developed-market exports.

How to read a calendar entry

Most calendars show three numbers alongside each event:

• Forecast (or "consensus"). The median of economist estimates collected before the release.
• Previous. The most recent prior reading.
• Actual. The released number, populated at the scheduled time.

Markets move on the gap between actual and forecast, not on the absolute number. A CPI print that matches consensus can trigger almost no reaction even if the headline is historically high. A surprise — a large beat or miss — is what moves yields, currencies, and equities.

Impact ratings

Calendars usually tag each event with a low / medium / high importance rating. High-impact events are the ones that routinely move markets when they surprise — NFP, CPI, central bank decisions. Medium-impact events can still move things in thin markets but rarely dominate the session. Low-impact events are mostly archival.

Time zones

Release times are typically displayed in your browser's local time on this widget, but they are always anchored to the country's own time zone. Non-farm payrolls, for example, always release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern regardless of where you are reading the calendar. If your local clock changes twice a year for daylight saving, the displayed times will adjust automatically.

How to use this page

Check the calendar at the start of the week to spot high-impact events and plan around them. Filter by country or importance if you want to narrow the view. When a release lands, cross-check the actual versus the consensus in the widget above, then watch how rates, the dollar, and equities respond on the Advanced Charts page and the news timeline.

Last reviewed on April 24, 2026. Calendar entries reflect scheduled releases and are subject to change by the issuing agency. Nothing on this page is investment advice. See our Disclaimer.