ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: February 9-13

As the polar vortex generates arctic blasts around the US, things are about to heat up on the economic data front. The week ahead includes arguably the two most consequential releases with respect to the outlook for Federal Reserve policy—January's employment and CPI reports.

Thanks to recent government shutdowns, the employment (Wed) and CPI (Fri) releases are unusually close together. The jobs report is especially important, as the January data typically includes annual revisions to employment conditions. There might be some noteworthy downward revisions in the year through March 2025.