Economic Indicators

We have created a comprehensive glossary of economic indicators from the relevant markets. While these indicators are generally applicable economic terms, some of them are specific for the country of their release.

To access the definitions of the terms listed below, please see "Foreign Exchange Markets: A Practical Guide", an innovative approach to covering FX fundamental and technical analysis.

Auto Sales
Balance of Payments
Balance of Trade (Merchandise Trade Balance)
Beige Book Fed Survey
Business Inventories and Sales
Capital Account (now known as Financial Account)
CBI Surveys
Construction Spending
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
Current Account
Durable Goods Orders
Employment Cost Index (ECI)
Employment Report
Factory Orders and Manufacturing Inventories
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
HICP (Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices)
Housing Starts/Building Permits
IFO
Implicit Deflator
Index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI)
The Institute of Supply Management (ISM)
L
M1
M2
M3
New Home Sales
Personal Income and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE)
Producer Price Index (PPI)
Productivity
Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)
Retail Sales
Tankan Survey
ZEW Indicator

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US Jobs Fails to Support Dollar

Markets shrugged off a sharply higher than expected October US non-farm payrolls report, battering the dollar to fresh lows against the euro at 1.4528 and the sterling just beneath the 2.09-level. Lingering jitters over credit conditions in the US continue to plague the greenback.

The October labor report revealed robust growth in non-farm payrolls, sharply exceeding market expectations by twofold at 166k compared with a downwardly revised September reading of 96k. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.7%, while hourly wages increased by 0.3%. Durable goods orders for September were unchanged from the previous month posting another 1.7% decline, while the ex-transports reading improved by 0.4%. Factory orders gained by 0.2% in September compared with a 3.3% drop a month prior.

The dollar initially rallied off the strong jobs data but quickly relinquished its strength as traders bought up the majors on the dip – reaffirming heavily bearish dollar sentiment. Renewing concerns about liquidity conditions were new Fed injections today that resulted in the Fed’s largest infusion of funds since September 2001. The Fed announced repurchases totaling $41 billion, exceeding the $38 billion injected at the height of the credit crunch panic in August.

forexnews.com