Important Economic Events

Major Macro-Economic Events

The first thing that gets affected when the price of a product goes up is the consumers who want to buy it. But why does it go up? Is the supply less than the demand? Did the materials used to create the product affect it? Traders, economists and analysts turn to macroeconomics and other indicators and anticipate them on their economic calendar to answer these questions.

Macroeconomics: What is it?

Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that studies how the economy behaves as a whole. It is entirely different from microeconomics, which deals with individuals and how their economic decisions are made. There are a lot of factors that influence macroeconomics which makes it a very complicated branch. Along with different economic indicators these factors help determine the health of an economy.

Main Economic Indicators

1. Nonfarm Payroll

Reported monthly on the first Friday of every month and well within the crosshairs of traders’ economic calendars, the nonfarm payroll is a statistic used by policymakers of the government to determine the current state of the economy and predicting future levels of economic activity.

Traders anticipate the Nonfarm Payroll report as it will most likely cause a large movement of rates in the market.

2. Consumer Price Index (CPI)

CPI is reported monthly and there are two types CPI-W and CPI-U. Traders keep a close eye on CPI as it reports the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer goods like transportation, food and medicine.

3. Current Population Survey

Another indicator marked on economic calendars of traders is the Current Population Survey. Unemployment rate shows the strength of the economy so asset value will definitely rise or fall depending on whether the unemployment rate is good or bad as investors contemplate the changes in these areas.