Measures the price change of food and food services purchased by households. Higher food prices can result in economic slowdown because less disposable income will be used for non-food expenditures. Higher food prices can also result in inflation and signal future monetary action.

Higher domestic food prices may also suggest higher food prices internationally. New Zealand 's economy is largely based on producing and exporting agricultural goods and food products. Therefore, the Food Price Index can reflect demand for New Zealand products and for the New Zealand dollar. A higher reading may suggest a strengthening of the Dollar as foreigners pay relatively more for New Zealand 's exports.

The headline number is the percentage change in the index from the previous month.

Evaluates the monthly change in output produced by Japan's service sector. Because this report excludes manufacturing and only measures service industries catering mainly to domestic needs, the Tertiary Industry Index is a key indicator of domestic activity. The index incorporates data from firms involved in wholesale and retail trade, financial services, health care, real estate, leisure and utilities. The report excludes industrial manufacturing sectors that tend to be influenced by foreign demand. The tertiary industry index is posted monthly as a percentage change from the previous month's figure.

The UK claimant count provides data on those individuals who are out of work and who are claiming some sort of unemployment benefit.

The Claimant Count is the UK's most timely measure of unemployment. The report measures the number of people who claim unemployment benefits, but actively seeking work. The Claimant Count serves as a barometer for the health of the UK labor market. Higher job growth accompanies economic expansion and could spark inflationary pressures.

The headline number is a percentage change in the figure.

The Gross Domestic Product is a comprehensive measure of an overall production and consumption of goods and services. GDP serves as one of the primary measures of overall economic well-being. GDP announcements generally conform to expectations as the number comes out after most production figures that lead to overall GDP have already been released. Although releases that are out of line with expectations are rare, unanticipated GDP growth can move markets simply because of its significance as an economic indicator.

A German Firm, the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW), queries financial experts throughout Europe every month in order to make a medium-term forecast about Germany 's economic situation. They ask experts to evaluate the current situation and to predict the future direction of the economy. For all components of the survey, responses are restricted to positive, negative, or unchanged. This simple structure allows the survey to be quick and efficient in terms of turnaround time, as well as easy to understand and interpret.

Experts are asked for a qualitative assessment of the direction of inflation, interest rates, exchange rates and the stock market in the next six months. Thus the indicator provides a medium-term forecast for the German economy.

Technical Note on Headline Number : The results of the survey are always presented as the difference between those experts that optimistic and those are pessimistic. For instance if 25 percent of analysts expect improvement, 35 percent expect decline, and 40 percent expect no change, the headline figure is -10.

A German Firm, the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW), queries financial experts throughout Europe every month in order to make a medium-term forecast about Germany 's economic situation. They ask experts to evaluate the current situation and to predict the future direction of the economy. For all components of the survey, responses are restricted to positive, negative, or unchanged. This simple structure allows the survey to be quick and efficient in terms of turnaround time, as well as easy to understand and interpret.

Unlike the Economic Sentiment Indicator which looks into the future direction of the economy, the Current Situation Indicator focuses on the results of the survey that relate to the current health of the German economy. Expert opinions on whether the current situation is improved, worsened, or unchanged are summarized as the number of positive responses minus the number of negative responses. A higher headline figure indicates a stronger economy and better business climate.

Technical Note on Headline Number : The results of the survey are always presented as the difference between those experts that optimistic and those are pessimistic. For instance if 25 percent of analysts expect improvement, 35 percent expect decline, and 40 percent expect no change, the headline figure is -10.

The Center for European Economic Research (ZEW), queries financial experts throughout Europe every month in order to make a medium-term forecast about the economic situation. Eurozone ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment Assesses future economic expectations for the whole Eurozone. The results are summarized as the number of positive responses minus the number of negative responses. A higher headline figure indicates a positive expectation for Euro-zone economy.

Technical Note on Headline Number : The results of the survey are always presented as the difference between those experts that optimistic and those are pessimistic. For instance if 25 percent of analysts expect improvement, 35 percent expect decline, and 40 percent expect no change, the headline figure is -10.

Measures the volume change of output of the manufacturing and energy sector. The industrial sector contributes to only a quarter of the Eurozone GDP. However, most variations in the GDP come from the industrial sector, whereas other sectors that contribute far more to national output historically have been very consistent regardless of economic cycles. That is why tracking industrial production is very important for forecasting GDP changes.

Note: The Industrial Production figure can be adjusted for the number of working days in the given time period and/or seasonally to account for weather related changes in production.

Reflects the rate of growth in housing construction. Housing Starts act as an indicator measuring the strength of Canada's construction sector and housing market. Economists also use the figure as a leading indicator for the economy as a whole due to Housing Starts' sensitivity to changes in the business cycle. Housing Starts slow at the onset of a recession and quickly grow at the beginning of an economic boom; consequently, a high Housing Starts figure forecasts strong economic growth.

The headline figure is the percentage change in new home starts.

An aggregated measure of the sales of retail goods over a stated time period, typically based on a data sampling that is extrapolated to model an entire country. In the U.S., the retail sales report is a monthly economic indicator compiled and released by the Census Bureau and the Department of Commerce. The report covers the previous month, and is released about two weeks after the month-end. Comparisons are made against historical data; year-over-year comparisons are the most-reported metric because they account for the seasonality of consumer-based retail.

This index reflects import price change per month.

The key gauge for inflation in Canada. Simply put, inflation reflects a decline in the purchasing power of the Canadian Dollar, meaning each Dollar buys fewer goods and services. CPI is the most obvious way to measure changes in purchasing power - the report tracks changes in the price of a basket of goods and services that a typical Canadian household might purchase. An increase in the index indicates that it takes more Dollars to purchase this same set of basic consumer items.

As the most important indicator of inflation in Canada , Consumer Price figures are closely followed by Canada 's central bank. The Bank of Canada has a target inflation band of 1 - 3 % and uses CPI and Core CPI as its principle gauge (the Bank of Canada posts inflation targets and CPI on their homepage). A rising CPI may prompt the central bank to raise interest rates in order to manage inflation and slow economic growth. Higher interest rates make holding the Dollar more attractive to foreign investors, and this higher level of demand will place upward pressure on the value of the Dollar.