Economic calendar
An economic calendar is a schedule of key economic data releases and events, such as inflation, jobs and rate decisions. It shows the time, the forecast and the previous value.
How it works
For each event the calendar lists the country or currency, exact time, importance (usually one to three marks), the previous value, the analysts' forecast and, after release, the actual figure. The gap between actual and forecast is what moves price.
The biggest events for the dollar and markets overall are Fed decisions (FOMC), CPI inflation, the US jobs report (NFP) and decisions by other major central banks. In those minutes spreads widen, execution gets worse, and price can cover a day's range in seconds.
You need the calendar even if you do not trade news: so you do not open a trade five minutes before a major release and so you understand why the market suddenly woke up. Check the calendar's time zone, because mixing up times is a common source of surprises.
The calendar shows US CPI at 8:30 am New York time, forecast 3.1%, previous 3.2%. You hold a gold long with a stop $8 below price. Seeing the event in advance, you close part of the position or move the stop to breakeven before 8:30, instead of facing a $20 swing unprepared.
A common mistake is only watching high-impact events for your own pair and forgetting US dollar data, which moves almost everything, including gold and crypto. Open the calendar each morning, mark the key events for the dollar and your currencies, and decide in advance whether you trade through them or stay out.
Questions and answers
What is an economic calendar in simple terms?
It is a schedule of important economic news with release times, forecasts and actual results.
Which economic calendar events matter most?
Usually central bank rate decisions, inflation (CPI), US jobs (NFP) and GDP. They are marked as high impact.
What do forecast and actual mean in the calendar?
Forecast is what analysts expect, actual is the real number. Markets move mostly on the difference between the two.
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Updated: 2026-10-19