Average Workweek
The average workweek reflects the number of hours worked in the private nonfarm sector.

Bank Reserve Settlement
A two-week period that ends every other Wednesday during which commercial banks must meet reserve requirements stipulated by the Federal Reserve.

Beige Book
A compilation of economic conditions from each of the 12 Federal Reserve districts. Data are anecdotal and qualitative, rather than quantitative, in nature. This book is produced before the monetary policy meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee.

BTM Chain Store Sales
A weekly measure of comparable store sales at major retail chains. This series is related to the general merchandise portion of retail sales which accounts for roughly 10 percent of total retail sales.

Business Inventories
The dollar amount of inventories held by manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. The level of inventories in relation to sales is an important indicator of the near-term direction of production activity.

Capacity Utilization Rate
The capacity utilization rate reflects the usage of available resources among factories, utilities and mines.

Chain Store Sales
Monthly sales volumes from department, chain, discount, and apparel stores. The individual retailers report sales. Chain store sales correspond with roughly 10 percent of retail sales.

Challenger Job-Cut Report
A monthly report on the number of announced corporate layoffs. Unlike most economic data, this series is not adjusted for seasonal variations. The report indicates trends in the labor market.

Construction Spending
The dollar value of new construction activity on residential, non-residential, and public projects. Data are available in nominal and real (inflation-adjusted) dollars.

Consumer Confidence
A survey of consumer attitudes concerning the present situation and expectations regarding economic conditions conducted by The Conference Board. Five thousand consumers across the country are surveyed each month. The level of consumer confidence is directly related to the strength of consumer spending.

Consumer Credit
The dollar value of consumer installment credit outstanding. Changes in consumer credit indicate the state of consumer finances and suggest future spending patterns.

Consumer Price Index
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average price level of a fixed basket of goods and services purchased by consumers. Monthly changes in the CPI represent the rate of inflation.

Consumer Sentiment
A survey of consumer attitudes concerning the present situation and expectations regarding economic conditions conducted by the University of Michigan. Five hundred consumers are surveyed each month. The level of consumer sentiment is directly related to the strength of consumer spending.

Current Account
A measure of the country's international trade balance in goods, services, and unilateral transfers. The level of the current account, as well as trends in exports and imports, indicate trends in foreign trade.

Double Witching
Each month, stock options and stock index options expire. Market players refer to this expiration as "double-witching".

Durable Goods Orders
Durable goods orders reflect the new orders placed with domestic manufacturers for immediate and future delivery of factory hard goods.

Employment Cost Index
A measure of total employee compensation costs, including wages and salaries and the costs of benefits. The employment cost index (ECI) is the broadest measure of labor costs.

Existing Home Sales
The number of previously constructed homes with a closed sale during the month. Existing homes (also known as home resales) are a larger share of the market than new homes and indicate housing market trends.

Factory Orders
The dollar level of new orders for both durable and nondurable goods. It gives more complete information than durable goods orders that are reported one or two weeks earlier in the month.

Farm Prices
The Department of Agriculture releases the index of prices received by farmers at the end of the month for the current month. It reflects changes through the middle of the month, and is not adjusted for seasonal variation. It includes crop prices (49.8%) and livestock & product prices (50.2%). Analysts monitor farm prices, which give early warnings of inflation or deflationary pressures in the economy.

FOMC Meeting
The Federal Open Market Committee consists of the seven Governors of the Federal Reserve Board and five Federal Reserve Bank presidents. The FOMC meets eight times a year in order to determine the near-term direction of monetary policy. Changes in monetary policy are announced immediately after FOMC meetings.

Gross Domestic Product
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the broadest measure of aggregate economic activity and encompasses every sector of the economy.

Help Wanted Index
A monthly index of the number of lines of help-wanted advertising in 51 major newspapers from around the country. This index indicates the strength or weakness in the labor market.

Housing Starts
Housing starts measure the number of residential units on which construction is begun each month.

Import and Export Prices
The prices of goods that are bought in the United States but produced abroad and the prices of goods sold abroad but produced domestically. These prices indicate inflationary trends in internationally traded products.

Industrial Production
The Index of Industrial Production is a chain-weight measure of the physical output of the nation's factories, mines and utilities.

International Trade
International Trade measures the difference between imports and exports of both tangible goods and services. The level of the international trade balance, as well as changes in exports and imports indicate trends in foreign trade.

ISM Manufacturing Index
The Institute for Supply Management compiles a composite diffusion index of national manufacturing conditions. Readings above 50 percent indicate an expanding factory sector.

ISM Non-manufacturing Index
The Institute for Supply Management compiles an ISM non-manufacturing index covering a multitude of firms in the non-manufacturing sector such as construction; transportation, communications, electric, gas and sanitary services; wholesale trade; retail trade; finance, insurance and real estate; services; and public administration.

Jobless Claims
A weekly compilation of the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. This indicator, and more importantly, its four-week moving average, portends trends in the labor market.

LJR Redbook
A weekly measure of sales at chain stores, discounters, and department stores, published by Lynch, Jones and Ryan. It is a less consistent indicator of retail sales than the BTM/SW index. This index is correlated with the general merchandise portion of retail sales, covering only about 10 percent of total retail sales.

Leading Indicators
A composite index of ten economic indicators compiled by The Conference Board, which are designed to signal the direction of the economy in a timely and consistent manner.

MBA Purchase Application Index
A weekly index of purchase applications at mortgage lenders. This is a leading indicator for single family home sales and housing construction.

Monetary Aggregates
The monetary aggregates are alternative measures of the money supply by degree of liquidity. Changes in the monetary aggregates indicate the thrust of monetary policy as well as the outlook for economic activity and inflationary pressures.

Motor Vehicle Sales
Unit sales of domestically produced cars and light duty trucks (including sport utility vehicles and mini-vans). The individual manufacturers report sales over a three-day period. Motor vehicle sales are good indicators of trends in consumer spending.

NAHB Housing Index
A survey of homebuilders reflecting traffic through model homes. This composite index indicates housing market trends.

NAPM - Chicago
The National Association of Purchasing Management - Chicago compiles a survey and a composite diffusion index of manufacturing conditions in the Chicago area whose distribution of manufacturing firms mirrors the national distribution. Readings above 50 percent indicate an expanding factory sector. The NAPM - Chicago is considered a leading indicator of the ISM manufacturing index.

New Home Sales
The number of newly constructed homes with a committed sale during the month. The level of new home sales indicates housing market trends, and economic momentum signaling consumer purchases of furniture and appliances

Nonfarm Payrolls
Nonfarm payroll employment counts the number of paid employees working part-time or full-time in the nation's business and government establishments.

Philadelphia Fed Survey
A composite diffusion index of manufacturing conditions within the Philadelphia Federal Reserve district. This survey is widely followed as an indicator of manufacturing sector trends since it is correlated with the NAPM survey and the index of industrial production.

Personal Income
Personal income is the dollar value of income received from all sources by individuals.

Personal Outlays
Personal outlays (also known as personal consumption expenditures) include consumer purchases of durable goods, nondurable goods, and services.

Producer Price Index
The Producer Price Index (PPI) is a measure of the average price level for a fixed basket of capital and consumer goods paid by producers.

Productivity and Costs
Productivity measures the growth of labor efficiency in producing the economy's goods and services. Unit labor costs reflect the labor costs of producing each unit of output. Both are followed as indicators of future inflationary trends.

Retail Sales
Retail sales measure the total receipts at stores that sell durable and nondurable goods.

Treasury Auctions
Treasury securities are sold at public auctions on a regular schedule. The competitive bids at these auctions determine the interest rate paid on each issue of Treasury bills, notes or bonds. The competitive bidding is done by primary dealers, a group of about forty securities dealers who are authorized (and obligated) to submit competitive tenders at Treasury auctions. These dealers can hold them, resell them to their clients or trade them with other securities firms.

Treasury Budget
A monthly account of the surplus or deficit of the federal government. Changes in the annual fiscal year deficit are followed as an indicator of budgetary trends and the thrust of fiscal policy.

Treasury STRIPS
A report on the amount of net stripping of Treasury securities that has taken place during the month. The report details gross stripping and reconstitution of Treasury notes and bonds by individual issue.

Triple Witching
Every third month, stock options, stock index options, and stock index futures expire. Market players refer to this as "triple witching". It is associated with extra volatility in the financial markets (both cash and futures).

Unemployment Rate
The unemployment rate measures the number of unemployed as a percentage of the labor force.

Wholesale Trade
The dollar value of sales made and inventories held by merchant wholesalers. It is one of the components of business inventories.