Wirtschaftskalender - Währungen

The activity index of the tertiary industry helps to understand an overall picture of industrial activities, inclusive of all business categories in the tertiary industry. The composite index is a general indicator in which the indexes to express the activity in respective business categories are consolidated with weight in terms of the scale of relative importance of each business category (value added). Wholesale Trade is the most important sector and accounts for 15 percent of tertiary activity, followed by Medical, Health Care & Welfare and Living & Amusement-related Services (12 percent each), Information & Communications (11 percent), Retail Trade and Transport & Postal Activities (10 percent each), Finance and Insurance (9 percent), Real Estate (8 percent), Business-related Services (7 percent), and Electricity, Gas, Heat Supply & Water and Goods Rental and Leasing (3 percent each).

In Australia, interest rates decisions are taken by the Reserve Bank of Australia's Board. The official interest rate is the cash rate. The cash rate is the rate charged on overnight loans between financial intermediaries, is determined in the money market as a result of the interaction of demand for and supply of overnight funds.

In China, Foreign Direct Investment refers to foreign capital actually utilized, which is to the amount which has been actually used according to the agreements and contracts, including cash, materials and invisible capital such as labor service and technology which both parties agree to take as an investment.

In Brazil, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force.

The Global Dairy Trade Price Index measures the weighted-average price of nine dairy products sold at auction every two weeks in New Zealand.

In Canada, a housing start is defined as the beginning of construction work on the building where the dwelling unit will be located. This can be described in 2 ways: usually, the stage when the concrete has been poured for the whole of the footing around the structure; or an equivalent stage where a basement will not be part of the structure.

In Canada, the most important categories in the CPI basket are Shelter (30 percent of the total weight) and Transportation (17 percent). Food accounts for 16 percent; Household Operations, Furnishings and Equipment for 15 percent; Recreation, Education and Reading for 9 percent; Health and Personal Care for 5 percent; Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco Products for 5 percent and Clothing and Footwear for the remaining 4 percent. The CPI basket is reviewed every four years on the basis of household surveys. The current weights are based on spending patterns in 2002.

CPI Trimmed is a measure of core inflation that excludes CPI components whose rates of change in a given month are located in the tails of the distribution of price changes. This measure helps filter out extreme price movements that might be caused by factors specific to certain components. In particular, CPI-trim excludes 20 percent of the weighted monthly price variations at both the bottom and top of the distribution of price changes, and thus it always removes 40 percent of the total CPI basket.

CPI median is a measure of core inflation corresponding to the price change located at the 50th percentile (in terms of the CPI basket weights) of the distribution of price changes in a given month. This measure helps filter out extreme price movements specific to certain components. This approach is similar to CPI-trim as it eliminates all the weighted monthly price variations at both the bottom and top of the distribution of price changes in any given month, except the price change for the component that is the midpoint of that distribution.

In Canada, Manufacturing Sales provides a current 'snapshot' of sales of goods manufactured values by the Canadian manufacturing sector, enabling analysis of the state of the Canadian economy, as well as the health of specific industries in the short- to medium-term.

In Canada, the core inflation rate tracks changes in prices that consumers pay for a basket of goods which excludes eight of the most volatile components identified by the Bank of Canada including: fruit, fruit preparations and nuts; vegetables and vegetable preparations; mortgage interest cost; natural gas; fuel oil and other fuels; gasoline; inter-city transportation; and tobacco products and smokers' supplies. It also excludes the effect of changes in indirect taxes.

In Canada, New Motor Vehicle Sales refers to the number of new motor vehicles sold during a month, including passenger cars and trucks.

Inflation Rate MoM measures month over month change in the price of goods and services.

In New Zealand, the Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index measures the level of optimism that consumers have about the performance of the economy. The Consumer Confidence Index is calculated from percentage response to five internationally standardized questions covering consumers' personal financial circumstances, national economic expectations and attitudes to major purchases. It is 100 plus the average of the difference between positive answers and negative responses. A score above 100 shows more optimism than pessimism while a score below 100 denotes more pessimism.

Current Account is the sum of the balance of trade (exports minus imports of goods and services), net factor income (such as interest and dividends) and net transfer payments (such as foreign aid).