Economic calendar

Challenger Job Cuts, released by Challenger, Grey & Christmas monthly, provides information on the number of announced corporate layoffs by industry and region. The report is an indicator used by investors to determine the strength of the labor market. A lower than expected number should be taken as positive to the USD, while a higher than expected number as negative

Challenger Job Cuts measures the change in the number of job cuts announced by employers. A higher than expected reading should be taken as negative/bearish for the USD, while a lower than expected reading should be taken as positive/bullish for the USD.

Continuing Jobless Claims measures the number of unemployed individuals who qualify for benefits under unemployment insurance. A higher than expected reading should be taken as negative/bearish for the USD, while a lower than expected reading should be taken as positive/bullish for the USD.

The exports number provides the total US dollar amount of merchandise exports. A higher than expected number should be taken as positive to the USD, while a lower than expected number as negative.

The Imports number measures any good or service brought into one country from another country in a legitimate fashion, typically for use in trade. Import goods or services are provided to domestic consumers by foreign producers. A lower than expected number should be taken as positive to the USD, while a higher than expected number as negative.

Initial Jobless Claims measures the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time during the past week. As the week to week numbers might be very volatile, the four week moving average smooths the weekly data and used for the initial jobless claims metric A higher than expected reading should be taken as negative/bearish for the USD, while a lower than expected reading should be taken as positive/bullish for the USD.

Nonfarm Productivity measures the annualized change in labor efficiency when producing goods and services, excluding the farming industry. Productivity and labor-related inflation are directly linked-a drop in a worker's productivity is equivalent to a rise in their wage. A higher than expected reading should be taken as positive/bullish for the USD, while a lower than expected reading should be taken as negative/bearish for the USD.

The Trade Balance measures the difference in value between imported and exported goods and services over the reported period. A positive number indicates that more goods and services were exported than imported. A higher than expected reading should be taken as positive/bullish for the USD, while a lower than expected reading should be taken as negative/bearish for the USD.

Unit Labor Costs measure the annualized change in the price businesses pay for labor, excluding the farming industry. It is a leading indicator of consumer inflation. A higher than expected reading should be taken as positive/bullish for the USD, while a lower than expected reading should be taken as negative/bearish for the USD.

The Service PMI release is published monthly by Markit Economics. The data are based on surveys of over 400 executives in private sector service companies. The surveys cover transport and communication, financial intermediaries, business and personal services, computing & IT, hotels and restaurants.  An index level of 50 denotes no change since the previous month, while a level above 50 signals an improvement, and below 50 indicates a deterioration. A reading that is stronger than forecast is generally supportive (bullish) for the USD, while a weaker than forecast reading is generally negative (bearish) for the USD.

New orders measure the value of orders received in a given period of time. They are legally binding contracts between a consumer and a producer for delivering goods and services. New orders indicate future industrial output and production requirements.The Manufacturers Shipments, Inventories, and Orders (M3) survey provides broad-based, monthly statistical data on economic conditions in the domestic manufacturing sector. There are 89 separately tabulated industry categories in the M3 survey. These categories are groupings of the 473 manufacturing industries as defined in the 1997 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Manual. The monthly M3 estimates are based on information obtained from most manufacturing companies with $500 million or more in annual shipments. In order to strengthen the sample coverage in individual industry categories, the survey includes selected smaller companies. Value of Shipments - The value of shipments data in the M3 survey represents net selling values, f.o.b. plant, after discounts and allowances and excluding freight charges and excise taxes.

Factory Orders measures the change in the total value of new purchase orders placed with manufacturers. The report also includes a revision of the Durable Goods Orders data released about a week earlier as well as data new data on non-durable goods orders. A higher than expected reading should be taken as positive/bullish for the USD, while a lower than expected reading should be taken as negative/bearish for the USD.

Factory Orders measures the change in the total value of new purchase orders placed with manufacturers, but excluding all orders related to the transportation industry. The report also includes a revision of the Durable Goods Orders data released about a week earlier as well as data new data on non-durable goods orders. A higher than expected number should be taken as positive to the USD, while a lower than expected number as negative.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) Natural Gas Storage report measures the change in the number of cubic feet of natural gas held in underground storage during the past week. While this is a U.S. indicator it tends to have a greater impact on the Canadian dollar, due to Canada's sizable energy sector. If the increase in natural gas inventories is more than expected, it implies weaker demand and is bearish for natural gas prices. The same can be said if a decline in inventories is less than expected. If the increase in natural gas is less than expected, it implies greater demand and is bullish for natural gas prices. The same can be said if a decline in inventories is more than expected.

The figures displayed in the calendar represent the rate on the Treasury Bill auctioned. U.S. Treasury Bills have maturities of a few days to one year. Governments issue treasuries to borrow money to cover the gap between the amount they receive in taxes and the amount they spend to refinance existing debt and/or to raise capital. The rate on a Treasury Bill represents the return an investor will receive by holding the bill for its entire duration. All bidders receive the same rate at the highest accepted bid. Yield fluctuations should be monitored closely as an indicator of the government debt situation. Investors compare the average rate at auction to the rate at previous auctions of the same security.

The figures displayed in the calendar represent the rate on the Treasury Bill auctioned.U.S. Treasury Bills have maturities of a few days to one year. Governments issue treasuries to borrow money to cover the gap between the amount they receive in taxes and the amount they spend to refinance existing debt and/or to raise capital. The rate on a Treasury Bill represents the return an investor will receive by holding the bill for its entire duration. All bidders receive the same rate at the highest accepted bid. Yield fluctuations should be monitored closely as an indicator of the government debt situation. Investors compare the average rate at auction to the rate at previous auctions of the same security.

Reserve Balances with Federal Reserve Banks is the amount of money that depository institutions maintain in their accounts at their regional Federal Reserve Banks.