Economic Calendar - Currencies

In China, Housing Index is measured by year-over-year change in the index of newly built residential buildings in 70 medium and large cities. The index is calculated in weighted average method and the weight of each city is based on the population.

In China, urban investment in fixed assets is one of the main measures of capital spending. It refers to investment in construction projects with a total planned investment of 5 million yuan; machinery and equipment and real estate development in both urban and rural areas. It refers to investment made by state-owned enterprises and private businesses, institutions or individuals.

In China, the year-over-year change in Retail sales compares the aggregated sales of retail goods and services during a certain month to the same month a year ago.

In China, industrial production measures the output of businesses integrated in industrial sector of the economy such as manufacturing, mining, and utilities.

In China, Urban Surveyed Unemployment Rate is calculated by a sample survey, which refers to the ratio of urban unemployed population to the sum of the employed population and the unemployed population.

In Japan, capacity utilization is the quantity of production divided by the quantity of production capacity, expressing the state of operations for various facilities in the manufacturing industry. It does not measure the absolute level of capacity utilization but the relative capacity utilization rate compared with the benchmark year.

In Japan, industrial production measures the output of businesses integrated in industrial sector of the economy such as manufacturing, mining, and utilities.

In Japan, industrial production measures the output of businesses integrated in industrial sector of the economy such as manufacturing, mining, and utilities.

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 Turkey, Total Motor Vehicles Production refers to the production of total motor vehicles, excluding tractors.

The government budget balance is the difference between government revenues and expenses. The budget is balanced when outlays equal to receipts, the country reports budget surplus when revenues are higher than expenses and deficit when expenses exceed the revenues.

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, interest rate decisions are taken by The Central Bank of Brazil's Monetary Policy Committee (COPOM). The official interest rate is the Special System of Clearance and Custody rate (SELIC) which is the overnight lending rate.

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

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, 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 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.