What to Look Out for in Economic Data This Week (February 2-6)
The first week of February features several key economic reports on the state of the labor market, including the January jobs report.
The week's economic calendar features several updates on the labor market. First up is Tuesday morning's release of Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), which is followed by the January jobs report, due out on Friday. The data follow the recent decision by the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged due in part to "stabilization" of the unemployment rate.
Economic reports we're watching
Tuesday, February 3: JOLTS: Job openings declined in November, while the quits rate remained near historic lows. We'll be watching for any improvement on these figures when the December data is released.
Friday, February 6: Nonfarm payrolls: January job growth likely remained at the same pace as recent months, say Barclays economists.
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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.
Reports that have been delayed due to the government shutdown are marked with an asterisk (*).
Monday (2/2)
Time released | Economic report | Period |
9:45 am | S&P Global Final Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) | January |
10 am | Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing PMI | January |
12:30 pm | Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks | N/A |
Tuesday (2/3)
Time released | Economic report | Period |
8 am | Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin speaks | N/A |
9:40 am | Fed Governor Michelle Bowman speaks | N/A |
10 am | Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) | December |
Wednesday (2/4)
Time released | Economic report | Period |
8:15 am | ADP National Employment Report | January |
9:45 am | S&P Global Final Services PMI | January |
10 am | ISM Services PMI | January |
6:30 pm | Fed Governor Lisa Cook speaks | N/A |
Thursday (2/5)
Time released | Economic report | Period |
8:30 am | Weekly jobless claims | Week ending January 31 |
10:50 am | Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks | N/A |
Friday (2/6)
Time released | Economic report | Period |
8:30 am | Nonfarm payrolls report | January |
10 am | University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (preliminary) | February |
12 pm | Fed Governor Philip Jefferson speaks | N/A |
3 pm | Consumer credit | N/A |
January jobs data incoming
At the January Fed meeting, the central bank voted to keep the federal funds rate at its current range of 3.5% to 3.75%, citing a labor market that wasn't as strong as it would like but also not as bad as feared.
"50,000 jobs were added in December, following a similar gain in November, and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.4%," writes David Payne, staff economist at The Kiplinger Letter, in the Kiplinger jobs outlook. "That is enough, at the moment, to quiet the fears of an unfolding labor market downturn."
Barclays economists expect the January jobs report will show that payrolls rose by 50,000 to start the year.
"The incoming numbers should provide a better sense of the underlying pace of job gains following some wild swings during Q4 2025 amid various disruptions from the government sector," the group writes." We expect private nonfarm payroll employment to have also increased 50k in January, similar to November (+50k) and December (+37k)."
The "bigger news," they believe, will come from the benchmark revision, which could show a downward revision of 1 million jobs from March 2025.
Reporting schedules are provided Forex Factory and MarketWatch.
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