International trade figures are released once a month and tend to focus on trade with Japan and, more recently, China. Retail sales are an indication of consumer spending and demand. They are broken down into cars and everything else as sales of cars tend to be very volatile. The figure, excluding cars, is made up of chain-store, department store and supermarket sales. The first stage of the three levels of gross domestic product data released each quarter.
Advance is followed by provisional and then final.
GDP is the broadest indicator of total economic activity. A monthly survey by the Philadelphia branch of the Federal Reserve asking manufacturers to give a current view as well as a 6-month forecast for various costs. NAPM is a monthly survey based around a par at 50. An index score above 50 is a sign of expansion in the manufacturing sector. Anything below 50 is a sign that manufacturing production is weakening, or showing signs of decline.