Forex Economic Calendar Q3 2027: Key Dates and Events

Central bank meetings, US jobs and inflation dates, Jackson Hole, Labor Day and the thin August market: the third quarter of 2027 for currency traders, with the official dates we could confirm.

The third quarter of 2027 runs from 1 July to 30 September. For currency traders it contains six major central bank meetings in the space of nine weeks, three US employment reports, the Kansas City Fed's Jackson Hole symposium in late August, and the quietest stretch of the trading year, when much of Europe and North America is on holiday. This guide lists what is scheduled, when, and how these events have tended to affect spreads and volatility in general. It does not tell you what any of them will do to prices; nobody can.

If you are new to reading a calendar, start with how to use an economic calendar, and for why a data release moves a currency at all, see how economic data moves forex. The previous quarter is covered in the Q2 economic calendar and the next in the Q4 economic calendar.

How to use this guide

We only give a specific 2027 date where we checked it on the publisher's own schedule (the Federal Reserve, ECB, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank of Canada, Swiss National Bank, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, NYSE, GOV.UK and Japan's Cabinet Office). Everything we checked is listed under Sources at the end. Where an official 2027 schedule was not available to us, we give the usual timing rule instead and you should confirm the date on the official calendar nearer the time.

Three caveats apply to every date below:

Schedules change. Central banks occasionally move meetings, statistics agencies sometimes delay releases (a US government shutdown, for example, can postpone federal data), and unscheduled emergency decisions are always possible. The Federal Reserve states that each of its meeting dates is tentative until confirmed at the meeting before.
Times are local to the publisher. We give New York, London and Central European times. From late March to late October 2027, all three are on summer time, so the gaps are the normal five hours (New York to London) and six hours (New York to Frankfurt). Your own time zone may differ; the market hours tool converts the sessions to your local time automatically.
A date is not a forecast. Knowing that an event is scheduled tells you when volatility is more likely. It tells you nothing about direction.

The time conversions for this quarter

Because the US, UK and euro area are all on summer time for the whole of Q3, the conversions are stable. That changes in Q4, when Europe and the US put their clocks back on different weekends.

08:30 New York (most US data) = 13:30 London = 14:30 Central European summer time.
10:00 New York (ISM surveys, some housing and confidence data) = 15:00 London = 16:00 CET.
14:00 New York (FOMC statement) = 19:00 London = 20:00 CET.
07:00 London (most UK ONS data) = 08:00 CET = 02:00 New York.
12:00 London (Bank of England decisions) = 13:00 CET = 07:00 New York.
09:30 Zurich (SNB decisions) = 08:30 London = 03:30 New York.

One thing does move in this quarter: New Zealand starts daylight saving on the last Sunday in September, which is 26 September 2027. Until then Wellington is 11 hours ahead of London; from that date it is 12 hours ahead (until the UK puts its clocks back on 31 October), so a New Zealand release scheduled for 14:00 local time moves from 03:00 to 02:00 in London. Australia does not change until October. If you trade NZD, check your calendar's time-zone setting that week.

Central bank meetings in Q3 2027

Central bank decisions are usually the highest-impact events on any calendar, because interest rates are the single biggest fundamental driver of exchange rates over time. Our guide to central banks and interest rates explains why. On decision days, liquidity providers often widen quotes in the minutes before the announcement, and the press conference afterwards can move the market as much as the decision itself, because it is where the forward guidance is given.

Federal Reserve (FOMC)

The FOMC holds eight scheduled meetings a year. The statement is released at 14:00 New York time on the second day, followed by the Chair's press conference at 14:30. Two meetings fall in Q3 2027:

27–28 July 2027
14–15 September 2027 (with a Summary of Economic Projections, the quarterly set of policymakers' forecasts including the "dot plot" of expected interest rates)

Meetings that come with projections have often produced larger reactions than those without, simply because there is more new information to digest. Minutes of each meeting are published three weeks after the decision, so the minutes of the June 2027 meeting appear in early July, and those of the July meeting in mid-August.

European Central Bank

The ECB's Governing Council meets every six weeks for monetary policy. The decision is normally published at 14:15 Frankfurt time on the second day, with the press conference at 14:45. In Q3 2027:

21–22 July 2027 (decision and press conference on 22 July)
8–9 September 2027 (decision and press conference on 9 September)

The September meeting is one of the four each year at which ECB staff publish new macroeconomic projections, which gives it more weight on most calendars. Note that the July ECB decision falls in the middle of the busiest few days of the quarter (see "Clusters" below).

Bank of England

The Monetary Policy Committee announces its decision at 12:00 London time, together with the minutes. Four of the eight annual announcements come with a Monetary Policy Report. In Q3 2027:

29 July 2027 (with Monetary Policy Report)
16 September 2027

Both fall the day after a Fed decision, which means sterling traders have two large events back to back on each occasion.

Bank of Japan

The BoJ's Policy Board meets for two days and does not announce a fixed release time; the statement usually appears around midday Tokyo time on the second day (early morning in London), and the Governor's press conference follows in the afternoon Tokyo time. In Q3 2027:

21–22 July 2027 (with the quarterly Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices)
21–22 September 2027

The September meeting sits between two Japanese public holidays (20 and 23 September), so Tokyo is shut either side of it. The unknown release time is worth respecting: an announcement can land while European traders are asleep, and USD/JPY and other yen pairs can gap during Asian hours on those days.

Reserve Bank of Australia

The RBA's Monetary Policy Board meets eight times a year, publishing its decision at 14:30 Sydney time on the second day, followed by a media conference with the Governor. In February, May, August and November the Statement on Monetary Policy is published at the same time. In Q3 2027:

9–10 August 2027 (with the Statement on Monetary Policy)
27–28 September 2027

In August, 14:30 in Sydney is 05:30 in London, so the decision lands before the European session opens.

Bank of Canada

The Bank of Canada announces its policy rate at 09:45 Eastern time on eight fixed Wednesdays. The Monetary Policy Report is published with four of them. In Q3 2027:

21 July 2027 (with Monetary Policy Report)
8 September 2027

Swiss National Bank

The SNB holds four quarterly assessments a year, with a press release at 09:30 Zurich time and a news conference at 10:00. The Q3 assessment is on 23 September 2027. Because the SNB meets only quarterly, each meeting tends to carry more weight for the franc than any single meeting of a bank that meets eight times a year.

Reserve Bank of New Zealand

The RBNZ has said it is moving to eight scheduled decisions a year from 2027, announced at 14:00 New Zealand time. We could not confirm the official July to September 2027 dates from the RBNZ's own website when writing, so check the RBNZ's "upcoming monetary policy announcements" page before relying on any date you see elsewhere.

US data in Q3 2027

US releases matter for nearly every currency pair, because the dollar is on one side of about nine in every ten foreign exchange trades.

Employment report (non-farm payrolls)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the Employment Situation report, which includes non-farm payrolls, the unemployment rate and average hourly earnings, usually on the first Friday of the month at 08:30 New York time. The official 2027 schedule gives these Q3 dates:

2 July 2027 (June data)
6 August 2027 (July data)
3 September 2027 (August data)

Two of these fall just before US holidays. The 2 July release comes the Friday before the Independence Day holiday (observed on Monday 5 July in 2027), and the 3 September release comes the Friday before Labor Day (6 September). In both cases a volatile Friday afternoon is followed by a long US weekend. Positions held over a long weekend carry the same gap risk as any weekend, plus an extra day of possible news.

Consumer price index

US CPI is published by the BLS at 08:30 New York time, usually in the second week of the month. Q3 2027 dates:

14 July 2027 (June data)
11 August 2027 (July data)
14 September 2027 (August data)

The September release lands on the first day of the September FOMC meeting. Policymakers will have seen it before they decide, and the market tends to treat a CPI release right before a meeting as part of the run-up to the decision.

Other US releases to know

These have recognised timing rules, but we did not verify their individual 2027 dates; check the publisher's calendar.

GDP advance estimate (BEA): about four weeks after the quarter ends, so the first estimate for April to June normally appears in late July, at 08:30 New York time. See GDP in the glossary.
Retail sales (Census Bureau): around the middle of the month, 08:30.
ISM manufacturing and services [PMIs](/glossary/pmi): the first and third business days of the month, 10:00.
Weekly jobless claims (Department of Labor): every Thursday at 08:30, moved when a holiday interferes.
PCE price index (BEA): towards the end of the month, 08:30; it is the inflation measure the Fed targets.
Payroll benchmark revision (BLS): each year the BLS publishes a preliminary estimate of how much the previous year's payroll counts will be revised, usually around late August or early September. It has occasionally been large enough to draw attention on its own.

Europe, the UK and others

Euro area

Eurostat publishes the flash estimate of euro-area HICP inflation at the end of the reference month or in the first days of the next, at 11:00 Central European time. The preliminary flash estimate of GDP for the second quarter normally appears around the end of July. National releases from Germany, France, Italy and Spain often come out earlier on the same day or the day before, and can move the euro in their own right. Check Eurostat's release calendar for exact 2027 dates.

United Kingdom

The Office for National Statistics typically releases at 07:00 London time. UK CPI usually comes out on a Wednesday in the middle of the month, and labour market statistics (unemployment, employment and pay growth) on a Tuesday, often the day before CPI. Monthly GDP estimates appear around the middle of each month. Check the ONS release calendar for 2027 dates.

Japan

Tokyo CPI is published towards the end of the month for the same month, weeks before national CPI, which is why currency traders watch it as an early read on Japanese inflation. It is released at 08:30 Tokyo time (00:30 London in summer).

Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Switzerland

Australia: the ABS publishes labour force figures around the middle of the month at 11:30 Sydney time, and CPI data on its own schedule.
Canada: Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey usually comes out on a Friday at 08:30 Eastern time, often the same morning as US payrolls, which can make USD/CAD particularly busy at that minute. Canadian CPI comes out mid-month.
New Zealand: quarterly CPI for April to June usually appears in mid-July, and quarterly labour market data in early August.
Switzerland: monthly CPI is usually published in the first days of the month.

Seasonal features of Q3

Summer liquidity

The single most important seasonal feature of Q3 is not an event at all. It is the absence of people. From mid-July to the end of August, many traders, fund managers and bank dealers in Europe and North America take holidays. Fewer participants means less liquidity, and less liquidity has tended to mean two things for retail traders:

Wider [spreads](/glossary/spread), particularly outside the London and New York overlap and in crosses and less-traded pairs. Our guide on why spreads widen explains the mechanism.
Patchier price action. A modest piece of news can produce an outsized move when there are few orders in the book to absorb it, and then the move can fade just as quickly. Thin markets have also been the backdrop for some sharp, unexpected moves historically; the yen's swing in early August 2024 happened in a summer market, for example.

None of this means quiet markets are dangerous by default; many August days are simply slow. The point is that you cannot assume normal conditions, and that a stop-loss can be filled further away than usual if price jumps. See slippage explained.

Jackson Hole

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City hosts its Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, usually over a Thursday to Saturday in late August. Central bankers, finance ministers and academics attend, and the Fed Chair's speech, usually on the Friday morning in Wyoming (late afternoon in London), has often been treated by markets as a major event because it has sometimes been used to set out the Fed's thinking ahead of the autumn.

The 2026 symposium took place on 27–29 August. The 2027 dates had not been announced by the Kansas City Fed when this guide was written. Check the Kansas City Fed's Jackson Hole page from early summer. Treat the Chair's speech like a central bank decision for risk purposes: spreads can widen as it starts and the reaction can be fast. Other central bankers, including ECB officials, often speak there too.

Holidays and closures

The FX market does not close for national holidays, but local liquidity drops when a financial centre is shut, and some data and settlement is affected. Confirmed 2027 dates for the quarter:

Thursday 1 July: Canada Day (by statute, 1 July; Canadian markets closed).
Monday 5 July: US Independence Day, observed (NYSE closed). 4 July falls on a Sunday in 2027.
Monday 19 July: Marine Day, Japan.
Wednesday 11 August: Mountain Day, Japan.
Monday 30 August: summer bank holiday in England and Wales (London closed). Scotland's summer bank holiday is earlier in August.
Monday 6 September: US Labor Day (NYSE closed). Canada's Labour Day falls on the same Monday.
Monday 20 September and Thursday 23 September: Respect for the Aged Day and Autumnal Equinox Day, Japan.

A US holiday Monday tends to leave the Asian and European sessions trading with the US absent, and liquidity in USD pairs is usually lighter than normal. Labor Day is also commonly described as the unofficial end of the summer lull, with volumes typically picking up through September.

Swap charges also deserve a thought around holidays: rollover is based on settlement dates, so a holiday in one of a pair's currencies can shift when the extra days of financing are charged. See swap and overnight financing.

Quarter-end on 30 September

The last days of a quarter can bring portfolio rebalancing and hedging flows, particularly around the 16:00 London fix on the final business day. These flows are not about economic news and are hard to anticipate. 30 September is also the half-year end for most Japanese companies, whose fiscal year runs from April to March, which has historically been associated with repatriation and hedging flows in yen. Treat the last afternoon of the quarter as a time when unusual moves are possible without any headline.

Clusters: the busiest days of Q3 2027

Looking at the confirmed dates together shows a few periods where several big events stack up:

21–22 July: Bank of Canada decision and the start of the BoJ meeting on 21 July; the BoJ decision with its Outlook Report and the ECB decision on 22 July.
27–29 July: FOMC decision on 28 July, then the Bank of England with its Monetary Policy Report on 29 July. The US GDP advance estimate for Q2 usually lands around this time as well.
8–9 September: Bank of Canada on 8 September, ECB with new staff projections on 9 September.
14–16 September: US CPI on 14 September, FOMC with projections on 15 September, Bank of England on 16 September.
21–23 September: BoJ decision on 22 September and the SNB on 23 September, with Japanese holidays on 20 and 23 September.

During a cluster, it is common for spreads to widen several times in a few days and for a move triggered by one event to be extended or reversed by the next.

Worked example: what a news spike can cost

The figures here are purely illustrative.

Suppose your broker's typical EUR/USD spread is 0.8 pips during the London and New York overlap. In the seconds around the FOMC statement at 19:00 London time on 28 July, the quoted spread briefly widens to 4 pips, which is the kind of temporary widening you can see in a thin summer evening market.

You open a 2-lot position at that moment. On EUR/USD, one standard lot is worth about $10 per pip, so 2 lots are worth about $20 per pip.

Cost at the normal spread: 0.8 pips x $20 = $16.
Cost at the widened spread: 4 pips x $20 = $80.

That is $64 more simply for entering at the wrong minute, before price has moved at all. Add slippage of, say, 3 pips on a stop-loss triggered in the same spike and the stop costs another $60 beyond what you planned. On a small account this can be a meaningful share of the risk you meant to take on the whole trade. The pip value calculator works out these numbers for any pair and size.

The lesson is not that trading at these times is forbidden. It is that the true cost and the true risk of a trade placed into a scheduled event can be several times larger than on a normal hour, and that most retail CFD accounts lose money even without that extra friction.

Common mistakes in Q3

Assuming August is safe because it is quiet. Low liquidity can make individual moves sharper, not smaller.
Forgetting that the US is closed on 5 July and 6 September. Volumes in dollar pairs are usually light, and some data shifts.
Using a date from memory. Central bank calendars change from year to year; the September FOMC, for instance, moves around within the month.
Missing the overnight events. The BoJ and RBA decisions arrive during or before the European morning. Check what happened in Asia before you trade the London open.
Treating Jackson Hole as a fixed date. It is not confirmed until the Kansas City Fed announces it.
Ignoring the other side of the pair. A quiet US week can still be a busy euro or yen week.

Frequently asked questions

When are the Fed meetings in Q3 2027?

According to the Federal Reserve's published calendar, the FOMC meets on 27–28 July and 14–15 September 2027, with decisions at 14:00 New York time on the second day. The September meeting includes the Summary of Economic Projections. The Fed notes dates are tentative until confirmed at the preceding meeting.

When is the US jobs report in July, August and September 2027?

The BLS schedule lists 2 July, 6 August and 3 September 2027, each at 08:30 New York time, which is 13:30 in London and 14:30 in Frankfurt while all three are on summer time.

When is Jackson Hole 2027?

The Kansas City Fed had not announced the 2027 dates at the time of writing. The symposium is normally held over a Thursday to Saturday in late August; the 2026 event was on 27–29 August. Check the Kansas City Fed's website for confirmation.

Is forex trading closed on US Labor Day?

No. The FX market trades around the clock from Monday to Friday, but on Monday 6 September 2027 US exchanges and banks are closed, so liquidity in dollar pairs is usually thinner than normal and spreads can be wider, especially late in the European session.

Why are spreads often wider in August?

Because many market participants are on holiday, there are fewer quotes and orders in the market. Liquidity providers widen prices to protect themselves when it is harder to offset positions, and that shows up in the spread you pay. The effect is usually most visible outside the main sessions and in less-traded pairs.

Do I need to change my calendar settings in Q3?

Not for the US, UK or euro area, which stay on summer time throughout the quarter. New Zealand moves its clocks forward on 26 September 2027, so check NZD event times after that date. The market hours tool shows sessions in your own time zone.

Sources

Not investment advice. This is general information and education, written without knowledge of your circumstances. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any instrument. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Trading leveraged products carries a high risk of losing money. Risk warning

Forex economic calendar Q3 2027: July to September