Market-Moving News: data releases, earnings and events (education only)

01

The economic calendar: what is coming, and when

In simple words

An economic calendar is like a school timetable for the money world. It tells you when the "big tests" are, like reports on prices and jobs. If you know the test is on Friday, you are not surprised on Friday.

Key facts

Education only. This lesson teaches you to read a calendar, not to trade it.
Many important numbers are released on a published schedule, by government statistics agencies and central banks. Examples from official schedules:
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) lists one Consumer Price Index (CPI) release per month, each at 08:30 AM on its schedule.
The BLS also lists one Employment Situation (jobs) report per month, each at 8:30 AM.
The US Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) holds eight regularly scheduled meetings a year, plus other meetings as needed.
The Bank of Canada sets its policy rate on eight fixed dates each year.
Free economic calendars on market websites usually show these columns (names can differ by site):

Column	What it means
Time	When the number comes out. Check the time zone!
Country or currency	Which economy the number is about
Event	For example CPI, jobs report, GDP, rate decision
Importance	Often shown as low, medium or high (stars, bulls or colours)
Previous	The last reading
Forecast or consensus	What forecasters expect this time
Actual	The real number, filled in at the release

Time zones matter. An event at 8:30 a.m. New York time on 10 December 2026 is 9:30 p.m. the same day in Manila and Beijing, and 10:30 p.m. in Tokyo and Seoul. In June, when New York is on daylight time, the same 8:30 a.m. is one hour earlier in those cities (8:30 p.m. Manila).
Always confirm the date and time on the official agency's own schedule. Third-party calendars can make mistakes.

In your country

Statistics Canada, "Canada's central statistical agency", under the Statistics Act. Website: www.statcan.gc.ca
Source: Statistics Canada, about us: www.statcan.gc.ca/en/about/about

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, Department of Labor) publishes jobs, unemployment, prices (CPI and PPI) and wages, www.bls.gov/. The Census Bureau covers people, housing and the economy, www.census.gov/.
Source: BLS, About us: www.bls.gov/about-bls/home.htm
Source: Census Bureau, What we do: www.census.gov/about/what.html

The national statistics office is the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), created by RA 10625 (2013). Its website is psa.gov.ph.
Source: RA 10625 text: lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2013/ra_10625_2013.html

The national statistics office is the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), site stats.gov.cn. Its data query portal is data.stats.gov.cn.
Source: www.stats.gov.cn/

The Statistics Bureau (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) at stat.go.jp. Its portal for government statistics is e-Stat.
Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan: www.stat.go.jp/english/index.html
Source: e-Stat: www.e-stat.go.jp/en/

The national statistics office is now the Ministry of Data and Statistics (the former Statistics Korea). Its site is mods.go.kr. Its related-site list points to the KOSIS statistical portal in English.
Source: Ministry of Data and Statistics: mods.go.kr/anse/

Step by step

Open a free economic calendar on a market website (names and layout can differ by site).
Set the calendar to your own time zone, usually in a settings or clock menu.
Filter to "high importance" events for this week.
Write each event in a table: date, your local time, country, event, previous and forecast.
For one event, open the official agency's website (see the box above, or the BLS or your central bank) and confirm the date and time.
Check: every row has a local time, and at least one row is confirmed on an official site. If the times disagree, trust the official schedule.

Watch on YouTube

Fundamental trading methodsCME Group · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01The economic calendar: what is coming, and when

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00

Voice

Read the video script

[Host] "Big market news often comes on a schedule. The economic calendar shows you when."
[Screen: a calendar with columns time, event, importance, previous, forecast, actual] "Each row shows the time, the event, how important it is, the last reading and the forecast."
[Text on screen: 8:30 a.m. New York = 9:30 p.m. Manila (December)] "Check the time zone. A morning release in New York can be late evening in Asia."
[Screen: the BLS release schedule page] "And confirm the date on the official agency's own schedule."
[Host] "Know when the big tests are, and you won't be surprised by the timing."

Try it now

Make a one-week "event map" for your country and one other major economy: every high-importance event, in your local time, with the previous and forecast numbers. Mark the busiest day. Observation only.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Market-Moving News: data releases, earnings and events (education only)" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "The economic calendar: what is coming, and when".

What the lesson teaches:
- Education only. This lesson teaches you to read a calendar, not to trade it.
- Many important numbers are released on a published schedule, by government statistics agencies and central banks. Examples from official schedules:
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) lists one Consumer Price Index (CPI) release per month, each at 08:30 AM on its schedule.
- The BLS also lists one Employment Situation (jobs) report per month, each at 8:30 AM.
- The US Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) holds eight regularly scheduled meetings a year, plus other meetings as needed.
- The Bank of Canada sets its policy rate on eight fixed dates each year.
- Free economic calendars on market websites usually show these columns (names can differ by site):

The exercise I'm working on:
Make a one-week "event map" for your country and one other major economy: every high-importance event, in your local time, with the previous and forecast numbers. Mark the busiest day. Observation only.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.
4. This is for learning only. Remind me to check with a licensed professional before I make a real decision about my own money, health or legal situation.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "The economic calendar: what is coming, and when" from the course "Market-Moving News: data releases, earnings and events (education only)".

Here's what the lesson says:
An economic calendar is like a school timetable for the money world. It tells you when the "big tests" are, like reports on prices and jobs. If you know the test is on Friday, you are not surprised on Friday.

The activity:
Make a one-week "event map" for your country and one other major economy: every high-importance event, in your local time, with the previous and forecast numbers. Mark the busiest day. Observation only.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.
Keep it general and educational. This is not advice for a real situation.

Open Claude

Sources

BLS, CPI release schedule: www.bls.gov/schedule/news_release/cpi.htm
BLS, Employment Situation release schedule: www.bls.gov/schedule/news_release/empsit.htm
Federal Reserve, FOMC meeting calendars: www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomccalendars.htm
Bank of Canada, Policy interest rate: www.bankofcanada.ca/core-functions/monetary-policy/key-interest-rate/

My notes

I learned this

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