A busy week lies ahead on the United States economic calendar, with labor market and inflation reports due while macroeconomic uncertainty remains elevated.
Crypto markets flatlined over the weekend, as investors licked their wounds following the massive $700 billion rout last week. The following several days could see more volatility with more government shutdown data on the way and a key inflation report.
US President Trump reiterated his 100,000 target for the Dow Jones as US stock futures rose on Monday morning. Meanwhile, precious metal markets are recovering, with gold reclaiming $5,000 per ounce and silver rising back to $80 per ounce.
Economic Events Feb. 9 to 13
The latest partial US government shutdown has already affected key data releases. The delayed December Retail Sales data is due on Monday, shedding light on the state of consumer spending.
This is followed by labor market data in the form of the January Jobs Report on Wednesday and Initial Jobless Claims data on Thursday.
“The most important thing, believe it or not, is the Labor Department’s nonfarm payroll report on Wednesday,” said CNBC’s Jim Cramer. “If that comes in soft, it means the Fed can keep cutting rates, and that’s great news for the stock market itself.”
Another big hitter, January’s CPI Inflation report, is due on Friday. The Consumer Price Index measures the average change over time in the prices paid by consumers for a basket of goods and services.
Key Events This Week:
1. December Retail Sales data – Monday
2. January Jobs Report – Wednesday
3. Initial Jobless Claims data – Thursday
4. January Existing Home Sales data – Thursday
5. January CPI Inflation data – Friday
6. 5 Fed speaker events this week
More government…
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) February 8, 2026
These labor market and inflation reports are critical in helping investors and Washington understand what is happening in the US economy, and are a key influence on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.
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“Rate expectations have been remarkably stable over the last couple of weeks,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior global investment strategist at Edward Jones, as reported by Reuters.
“We’ll see if any either weakness in the labor market data or any surprising cool-down in inflation accelerates a bit the timeline for when the market thinks the next rate cut may be delivered.”
Crypto Market Outlook
Crypto markets barely moved over the weekend, with total capitalization hovering around $2.45 trillion, its lowest level since November 2024. Bitcoin recovered to reclaim $71,000 following its crash to around $60,000 on Friday, but it remains 44% down from its all-time high and in a bear market.
Ether prices reclaimed $2,100 but couldn’t advance any further. The asset remains deep in bear market territory, down 58% from its August all-time high. The alcoins saw a minor bounce, but most of them are still on the floor after being obliterated in last week’s market crash.
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