This week's economic calendar features several updates on the housing market. But it's Wednesday afternoon's release of the minutes from the July Fed meeting that will likely draw the most attention.
A terse Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy statement, which showed a split decision on interest rates, and no specific details from Chair Warsh in his post-meeting press conference on how the central bank plans to bring down inflation have made the meeting minutes a key economic event we're watching
Economic reports we're watching:
FOMC July meeting minutes: Will the minutes from the July Fed meeting give clues on how the central bank plans to deliver price stability?
Read on to see the entire weekly economic calendar of the most important upcoming economic reports scheduled to be released in the next several days. At times, we provide expanded previews and recaps for select reports.
Please check back often. This economic calendar is updated regularly. Bolded reports are those considered more noteworthy. All reporting times are in Eastern Time.
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Monday (8/17)
Time released |
Economic report |
Period |
8:30 am |
Empire State Manufacturing Index |
August |
10 am |
NAHB Housing Market Index |
August |
Tuesday (8/18)
Time released |
Economic report |
Period |
8:30 am |
Building permits |
July |
8:30 am |
Housing starts |
July |
8:30 am |
Import prices |
July |
9:15 am |
Capacity utilization rate |
July |
9:15 am |
Industrial production |
July |
10 am |
Pending home sales |
July |
Wednesday (8/19)
Time released |
Economic report |
Period |
2 pm |
Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes |
N/A |
What will the Fed minutes show about July's split decision?
The Federal Open Market Committee, in a split decision, voted last month to leave the federal funds rate unchanged at its current target range of 3.50% to 3.75%.
"Economic activity is expanding at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty that owes, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East," the FOMC stated. "Productivity growth and capital investment are strong."
But the labor market is steady and inflation remains elevated, it added, which sent odds of a September rate hike skyrocketing after the Fed's July gathering.
But a weak July jobs report and soft inflation data have since lowered rate-hike expectations, which makes the minutes from the July Fed meeting stale, say BofA Securities economists. Still, their release is the highlight of this week's economic calendar.
"We will be looking to get a sense of how many FOMC participants (besides the three dissenters) wanted a hike or would at least have been willing to go along with one," explain BofA's economists. "We're also curious about the committee's thresholds for a September move, though we wouldn't expect anything too specific on this front."
Thursday (8/20)
Time released |
Economic report |
Period |
8:30 am |
Weekly jobless claims |
Week ending August 15 |
8:30 am |
Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index |
August |
Friday (8/21)
Time released |
Economic report |
Period |
9:45 am |
S&P Global Flash Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) |
August |
9:45 am |
S&P Global Flash Manufacturing PMI |
August |
Reporting schedules are provided Forex Factory and MarketWatch.
