Economists, analysts, individual investors and even traders want to keep a pulse on the Economy. But no one wants to wade through the massive volume of Economic Statistics that are put out by various entities, both governmental and private.

Economic Reports and Indicators are those often-voluminous statistics put out by government agencies, non-profit organizations and even private companies.

They provide measurements for evaluating the health of our economy, the latest business cycles and how consumers are spending and generally faring. Various economic indicators are released daily, weekly, monthly and quaterly.

While it is important to keep a pulse on the economy, few analysts or economists wade throuh all these masssive volumes of data. An understing of the Top 13 Economic Reports can help you narrow your focus.

We have categorized data into 13 Economic Reports

These 13 Economic Reports are the most common and vital economic indicators and can have a huge impact on the market; therefore, knowing how to interpret and analyze them is important for all investors and traders.

These are reports that shape the entire trading session. The state of the current economic cycle also has an impact on how anticipated each of these reports are.

Who should follow these Reports: Traders and Investors

Even if you consider yourself a trader, (and not a long term investor), with little consideration of outside market influences, you should know how markets interact with and influence one another. 

Even if you don't follow these economic reports yourself, it is helpful to know where the "experts" are drawing their opinion from. If you do peruse these reports. remember that the data can change rapidly, and that broad trends are not judged by one isolated economic data point.

1st...Week: Manufacturing - Employment
2nd..Week: Inflation
3rd ..Week: Retail Sales - Real Estate
4th...Week: Consumer - GDP

Who should follow these Reports: Traders and Investors

The Federal Reserve use most of this Economic data to assess the current economic and financial conditions to alter its monetary policy, which includes raising and lowering interest rates to control money supply.

For example, during peak periods of the business cycle when the economy is experiencing rapid growth in real GDP, employment will increase, and unemployment decrease, as businesses seek workers to produce a higher output.

A period of rising commodity prices arouses fears of inflation which prompts monetary authorities to raise interest rates to combat that inflation. Eventually, the rise in interest rates chokes off the economic expansion which leads to the inevitable economic slowdown and recession. During the recession demand for raw materials and money decreases, resulting in lower commodity prices and interest rates.

Activity in the bond and commodity markets can tell a lot about which way the economy is heading.

Read more about The Federal Reserve....

Why is it important?

The primary job of the Federal Reserve is to control inflation while avoiding a recession.

The most widely accepted definition of a recession is that when a country experiences two consecutive negative GDP prints, it is in recession.

It does this with monetary policy. To control inflation, the Fed must use contractionary monetary policy to slow economic growth. If the GDP growth rate is more than the ideal of 2-3%, excess demand can generate inflation by driving up prices for too few goods.

The Fed can slow this growth by tightening the money supply, which is the total amount of credit allowed into the market. The Fed's actions reduces the liquidity in the financial system, making it becomes more expensive to get loans. This slows economic growth and demand, which puts downward pressure on prices.

The Stages of the Business Cycle

1. Contraction - When the economy starts slowing down.
2. Trough - When the economy hits bottom, usually in arecession.
3. Expansion - When the economy starts growing again.
4. Peak - When the economy is in a state of "irrational exuberance."

Amid the doom and gloom, the U.S. is still the place most investors and businesses around the world turn to for opportunity even though Brazil, Russia and other emerging economies are increasingly catching up.

Emerging economies are catching up rapidly. China, the world's second-largest economy next to the U.S., expects an average of 9% growth a year for the next decade.

The U.S., whose economy barely grew during the first half of this year, will be lucky to see much more than 2% growth this year.

World Bank said on feb, 2012 in a report that forecast the China would become the world's largest economy before 2030. However gloomy the U.S. economy might look, the nation still leads the world in many ways. For now, considering the following facts:

1. The Biggest and Most Productive Economy

The U.S. is still the world's biggest and most productive economy in the world and that is the main reason to use U.S. data in our Economic Reports. The U.S. is the world's leading country in absolute volumes of imports and exports and, therefore, still the world's leading economic power.

2. Tops in Foreign Investment

Although, the United States is the world’s leading debtor nation, the U.S. remains the world's hot spot for foreigners investors.

3. World's Top Global Brands

The U.S. may not manufacture most of the world's automobiles or computers, but it's known for many top brands that do so.

4. World's Best Universities

5. World's Top Reserve Currency