It can depend on a reference rate, the total return of a swap, an economic statistic, etc.

The jump in the number of Americans without health insurance is not just another bad economic statistic.

In part, this is because trends become clear only after an economic statistic goes in the same direction - up or down -for several months.

The defining economic statistic of the last several decades is that median incomes have been essentially flat, even while the economy overall was growing.

This is always an important economic statistic for the stock and bond markets.

Instead, almost every fresh economic statistic has been a cause for celebration.

This year, a new economic statistic that casts doubt on the old consensus began getting some serious attention.

If a single economic statistic can be blamed for the recent slide towards panic it is the balance of payments figures.

The slowdown has become increasingly evident with each new economic statistic in recent weeks.

The productivity number, issued quarterly and covering all business except agriculture, is arguably the nation's most important economic statistic.