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Central bank decisions dominated the economic news flow this week led by the Federal Reserve. Trade data from the U.S. also gained attention. The Canadian and Swiss central banks also announced their interest rate decisions. Inflation data from China was in focus as the country released the latest consumer price and producer price data.

The relatively busy week for economic news flow had several surprises as many of the data released defied economists’ expectations. In the U.S., highlights included survey data on manufacturing and services and information on employment trends. In Europe, inflation data for the single currency region was in focus. Survey data on China’s services sector gained attention in Asia.

Survey data on the consumer confidence and housing demand attracted attention this week in the U.S. along with the weekly jobless claim figures. In Europe, the economic sentiment data from the euro area was in focus. Further, several European countries released updates for third quarter GDP data. The central bank decision from New Zealand was among the main news in Asia.

The highlight of this week was the much-awaited jobs report for September that was released after the longest government shutdown in the U.S. history came to an end. Minutes of the latest Fed policy session and the survey data on the manufacturing sector also gained attention. In Europe, inflation data from the U.K. was in focus, while economic output figures for the Japanese economy raised concern in Asia.