Market participants face a dense slate of U.S. economic releases on Wednesday, February 19, 2026, with a handful of reports likely to attract the most attention. Among the items scheduled for publication are the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index, Initial Jobless Claims, Pending Home Sales and weekly EIA Crude Oil Inventories. These reports, released at staggered intervals through the morning and early afternoon, may influence market sentiment and trading decisions across equities, fixed income, currencies and energy markets.
Key releases and timing (all times ET)
- 8:30 AM - Initial Jobless Claims: Consensus 223,000; prior 227,000. This early labor-market indicator tracks first-time filings for unemployment insurance and offers a timely read on labor market conditions.
- 8:30 AM - Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index: Consensus 7.5; prior 12.6. The index gauges manufacturing business conditions in the Philadelphia region and serves as a regional health check on activity.
- 10:00 AM - Pending Home Sales: Consensus +1.4%; prior -9.3%. This measure reflects signed contracts on existing homes that are awaiting closing and functions as a forward-looking indicator of housing market activity.
- 12:00 PM - EIA Crude Oil Inventories: Consensus +2.300 million barrels; prior +8.530 million barrels. The weekly report measures commercial crude oil stockpiles and is closely watched by energy market participants for its potential to affect oil prices and inflation expectations.
Additional scheduled items to monitor
Beyond the headline data, numerous other scheduled announcements and speeches could color market interpretation of the economic backdrop. Several Federal Reserve officials are scheduled to speak in the morning, and a range of goods, trade and inventory measures will be reported around the same time as the labor and regional manufacturing numbers.
- 8:20 AM - Remarks by FOMC member Raphael Bostic (Atlanta Fed President).
- 8:30 AM - Remarks by FOMC member Michelle Bowman (Fed Governor).
- 9:00 AM - Remarks by FOMC member Neel Kashkari (Minneapolis Fed President).
- 10:30 AM - Remarks by Fed official Austan Goolsbee (Chicago Fed President).
- 8:30 AM - Continuing Jobless Claims: prior 1,862,000, tracking ongoing recipients of unemployment insurance.
- 8:30 AM - Trade Balance: consensus -$55.50 billion; prior -$56.80 billion, measuring the gap between exports and imports of goods and services.
- 8:30 AM - Goods Trade Balance: consensus -$86.00 billion; prior -$84.72 billion.
- 8:30 AM - Exports: prior $292.10 billion.
- 8:30 AM - Imports: prior $348.90 billion.
- 8:30 AM - Philly Fed Employment: prior 9.7.
- 8:30 AM - Retail Inventories Ex Auto: prior 0.0%.
- 10:00 AM - Atlanta Fed GDPNow: consensus 3.6%, unchanged from prior reading, providing a real-time estimate of GDP growth.
- 1:00 PM - 30-Year TIPS Auction: prior yield 2.650%, showing investor demand for inflation-protected securities.
- 12:00 PM - EIA Weekly Cushing Oil Inventories: prior +1.071 million barrels, tracking stocks at a key delivery hub.
- 4:30 PM - Fed’s Balance Sheet: prior $6,622 billion, reporting Federal Reserve assets and liabilities.
- 4:30 PM - Reserve Balances with Federal Reserve Banks: prior $2.958 trillion, reflecting depository institution reserves.
Further Philadelphia Fed details and regional measures
Several Philadelphia Fed subcomponents and related regional indicators will be reported alongside the headline manufacturing index. The previously released readings for these measures provide context for the consensus figures market participants will be comparing to the new releases.
- Philly Fed Business Conditions: prior 25.5, measuring overall business outlook in the Philadelphia region.
- Philly Fed New Orders: prior 14.4, tracking incoming order activity.
- Philly Fed Prices Paid: prior 46.90, gauging input price pressures for manufacturers.
- Philly Fed Capex Index: prior 30.30, tracking capital expenditure intentions.
Other inventory and production-related metrics from the EIA
The EIA will also publish a set of ancillary energy supply and demand figures at 12:00 PM, offering additional color on refinery operations, imports and product inventories. The previously reported figures below provide the most recent comparable readings.
- Gasoline Inventories: consensus -0.200 million barrels; prior +1.160 million barrels.
- EIA Weekly Distillates Stocks: consensus -1.600 million barrels; prior -2.703 million barrels.
- EIA Weekly Gasoline Production: prior +0.139 million barrels per day.
- EIA Weekly Distillate Fuel Production: prior +0.045 million barrels per day.
- EIA Refinery Crude Runs: prior -0.029 million barrels per day.
- EIA Weekly Refinery Utilization Rates: prior change -1.1%.
- EIA Weekly Crude Imports: prior +0.912 million barrels per day.
- EIA Weekly Heatoil Stock: prior +0.202 million barrels.
Other scheduled economic indicators and auctions
- Wholesale Inventories: consensus +0.2%, unchanged from the previous reading, measuring inventory levels at wholesalers.
- Jobless Claims 4-Week Average: prior 219.50K, a smoothed measure of weekly unemployment claims.
- US Leading Index: prior -0.3%, tracking indicators that typically lead economic shifts.
- Pending Home Sales Index: prior 71.8.
- Natural Gas Storage: prior change -249 billion cubic feet.
- 4-Week Bill Auction and 8-Week Bill Auction: prior yields 3.630% for both, indicating short-term government borrowing costs.
What market participants will watch and why
Traders and strategists will be parsing these releases both in isolation and in aggregate. The labor figures - initial and continuing jobless claims - will be watched for signs of resilience or softening in employment trends. The Philadelphia Fed readings offer a regional snapshot of manufacturing and related price pressures, while pending home sales will be assessed for momentum in the housing market. The weekly EIA crude oil and related inventories reports provide timely supply-side data that can move energy prices and, by extension, influence inflation expectations.
Given the density of scheduled speeches from Federal Reserve officials in the morning, market participants will also be attentive to any commentary that reinterprets the incoming data in real time. Together, these releases make Wednesday a potentially active day for markets across sectors, including labor-sensitive consumer exposure, housing-related industries, energy and the broader cyclical segments of the economy.
For further information and the latest updates, please refer to the Economic Calendar.