An economic calendar is one of the most useful tools for forex traders worldwide. But when you first begin forex trading, (https://www.ironfx.com/en/markets/forex ) an economic calendar might seem very confusing and difficult to understand. Here, we shed light on some of the more important economic indicators from the three major economies (US, UK, and the Eurozone) that have the biggest impact on the forex market.
01 Gross Domestic product (GDP)
It is the total monetary value of all the goods and services produced in a country and it is a barometer of that country’s economic health, showing whether it is growing faster or slowing down or whether its contracting.
02 Non-Farm Payroll (US)
Measures the number of jobs added or lost in the US employment market over the course of a month, with the exception of the farming sector.
03 Unemployment Rate
It is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed people by the number of people in the labour force.
04 Inflation
The rate of inflation is the pace at which prices for goods and services rise over a particular period of time. It is measured with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for consumers, Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for wholesalers and Producer Price Index (PPI) for producers.
05 Consumer Confidence
It measures the degree of optimism that consumers feel about the state of the economy and it is an important indicator for economies based on consumer spending such as the US and UK economy.
06 Central Banks
Rate decisions are important, yet the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision is deemed to be the most important, mostly due to the fact that it regulates the flow of the US Dollar and the US being the largest economy globally.
07 Retail Sales
Retail Sales growth rates show the change in the total value of sales at a retail level. It’s considered the most relevant indicator of consumer spending and reflects a substantial part if not the majority of the overall economic activity.
08 Industrial Production growth rates
Industrial production growth rates measure usually on a monthly basis the change in the value of the total output of manufacturing, mining electric and gas industries.
Some of the above macroeconomic indicators found in an economic calendar are of great interest to Forex traders using fundamental analysis. If you want to find out more, our IronFX Trading School covers a wide array of material to keep you informed and help you enhance your trading.
