US Economic indicators

An economic indicator (or business indicator) is a statistic about the economy. Economic indicators allow analysis of economic performance and predictions of future performance.

Economic indicators can be leading, lagging, or coincident which indicates the timing of their changes relative to how the economy as a whole changes.

1. Leading: Leading economic indicators are indicators which change before the economy changes. Stock market returns are a leading indicator, as the stock market usually begins to decline before the economy declines and they improve before the economy begins to pull out of a recession. Leading economic indicators are the most important type for investors as they help predict what the economy will be like in the future.
2. Lagged: A lagged economic indicator is one that does not change direction until a few quarters after the economy does. The unemployment rate is a lagged economic indicator as unemployment tends to increase for 2 or 3 quarters after the economy starts to improve.
3. Coincident: A coincident economic indicator is one that simply moves at the same time the economy does. The Gross Domestic Product is a coincident indicator.

Now we will list the most important US economic indicators followed by traders, investors and analysts.

1. Non - Farm Payrolls
2. ISM Manufacturing Index
3. Consumer Price Index (CPI)
4. Retail Sales
5. Trade Balance or US Trade Deficit
6. Personal Income and Consumption
7. Gross Domestic Product - GDP
8. Durable Goods Orders
9. Producer Price Index (PPI)
10. Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization