The economic calendar is full of Federal Reserve events, including the May FOMC meeting and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference as well as nine speeches by Fed officials on Friday.
Wednesday, May 7: Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy statement: The Fed is expected to hold the target range for the federal funds rate at 4.25% to 4.50%.
Wednesday, May 7: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's press conference: Fed Chair Jerome Powell will field questions from the media about the economy and monetary policy.
Friday, May 9: Fed speakers: Eight Fed officials will make a total of nine public appearances on Friday, when the official "quiet period" around the May FOMC meeting ends.
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.
Economic calendar highlights
Monday (5/5)
Tuesday (5/6)
Wednesday (5/7)
The FOMC meets
The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 4.25% to 4.50% at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. A strong April jobs report has market participants paring their bets on a June cut, though.
The probability of 25 basis point cut at the June FOMC meeting declined from 55.0% on May 1 to 36.6% on May 2.
"The April jobs report indicates little fallout on the labor market, as yet, from recent tariff announcements, DOGE-related fiscal restraint, and soft indicators pointing to elevated uncertainty and declining sentiment," writes Barclays analyst Marc Giannoni.
Giannoni still sees conditions likely to lead to a mild recession the second half of 2025. Still, he writes, "The FOMC is now very unlikely to see enough deterioration in the labor market data to warrant a cut at the June meeting (much less next week)."
The FOMC "is most likely to remain in a holding pattern as it awaits policy developments, and incoming data on inflation and employment."
The Fed chair speaks
Fed Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 pm Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, following the 2 pm release of the FOMC policy statement.
Powell is under pressure from President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to lower interest rates ahead of an economic slowdown.
The president recently called Powell a "major loser" and said at rally in Michigan last week to celebrate his first 100 days in office that "I have a Fed person who’s not really doing a good job." Trump also said he knows "much more than he does about interest rates."
“We are seeing that two-year rates are now below fed-funds rates," Bessent said May 1 on Fox Business. "So that’s a market signal that they think the Fed should be cutting.” Bessent had previously refrained from commenting on Federal Reserve policy.
In addition to questions about current economic conditions, inflation and employment, Powell will likely be pressed to respond to the president and the Treasury secretary during his press conference.
Thursday (5/8)
Friday (5/9)
After the "quiet period"
Eight Fed officials are scheduled to make a total of nine public appearances on Friday.
Since Saturday, April 26, and until Thursday, May 8, participants in the FOMC meeting have been bound by a Federal Reserve policy that limits the extent they can talk about the economy and interest rates.
These two-week "blackout periods" begin the second Saturday preceding an FOMC meeting and end the Thursday following a meeting. An unofficial practice that began in the 1980s was formalized in 2011 and reaffirmed in January.
Fed-watchers see the policy as a measure against corruption and the potential for information leaks to distort markets. It also provides cover for open discussion during the Fed's most intense periods of policy-making.
Reporting schedules are provided Forex Factory and MarketWatch.
