To get notified when the Fed changes interest rates or US CPI comes out, use the official sources: the Fed's press-release email or RSS feed for rate decisions, the BLS's email or CPI feed for inflation, and the BLS calendar file for reminders. Economic calendars and broker apps add push alerts. Avos alerts watch the numbers themselves.
This guide is for anyone whose plans move with US rates and prices: investors, finance teams, founders, mortgage shoppers. It covers the default setup step by step, the release times, and what the other options add. Full disclosure: Avos is our product. Every fact about the other options comes from their own pages, linked below.
What is the best default setup?
Three sources cover both events, straight from the institutions that publish them.
1. Fed decisions by email.
- Open the Fed's Subscribe to E-mail Notifications page and click "Create or manage your subscriptions".
- Enter your email address and name on the Email Updates form.
- Choose your subscriptions. The Fed says the service covers press releases, as well as speeches, testimony and reports, and sends a short description and a link to each new posting.
Or by RSS: the Fed's feeds page lists "Press Releases: Monetary Policy", which carries the FOMC statements. Copy https://www.federalreserve.gov/feeds/press_monetary.xml into any RSS reader.
2. CPI by email or RSS.
- On the BLS's CPI home page, open "Subscribe" in the page header, or "Subscriptions" in the CPI Publications menu.
- Enter your email address and name on the Email Updates form, then follow its steps to pick what you receive. The BLS describes this service, which sends news releases and notifications by email, as free (CPI contacts).
- Or copy the CPI news release feed,
https://www.bls.gov/feed/cpi.rss, from the BLS feeds page into your RSS reader. The jobs report has its own feed there too.
3. Release dates in your calendar.
- Open the BLS CPI release schedule.
- Click its webcal link to subscribe, or, for Google Calendar, paste
https://www.bls.gov/schedule/news_release/bls.icsinto your calendar as the BLS page says. - Set a reminder on that calendar. It holds every BLS release, not just CPI. For Fed meetings, the FOMC calendar lists the dates.
These are authoritative and arrive at the moment of release. What they don't tell you is whether a release matters to you: every CPI print looks the same in your inbox.
When do the Fed and the BLS publish?
Fed rate decisions. The Federal Open Market Committee meets eight times a year. The next 2026 meeting is on 8 and 9 December; the 2027 calendar starts on 26 and 27 January. The decision comes as a press release on the meeting's last day: the 28 October 2026 statement was marked "For release at 2:00 p.m. EDT" and kept the target range at 3.75% to 4%. Minutes follow three weeks later.
CPI. The BLS publishes the Consumer Price Index monthly at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. The October 2026 figures come out on 10 November 2026, November's on 10 December and December's on 13 January 2027.
What do economic calendars and broker apps add?
Economic calendars put releases from many countries on one page. Investing.com's economic calendar lets you set an alert on a specific event with the "Create Alert" button on its row. The Trading Economics calendar offers "Alerts for major calendar releases, even when this tab is minimised or in the background", which means a browser tab you keep open.
Broker apps help if you already invest. Fidelity's guide to alerts says alerts can notify you about "specific stock movements, economic announcements, and other news", as push notifications from its app, and price alerts can also arrive by text or email. You need an account.
How do the options compare?
Checked on 6 November 2026 against the Federal Reserve's, the BLS's, Investing.com's, Trading Economics' and Fidelity's own pages, linked above.
| Option | What you get | How it reaches you | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Reserve email and RSS | A notice and link for each new press release, FOMC statements included | Email, or your RSS reader | No charge listed | The decision itself, from the source |
| BLS email, RSS and calendar | Each CPI release (and others you pick), plus every release date | Email, RSS, calendar reminder | Email service described as free | CPI day, from the source |
| Economic calendars | Many countries' releases on one page, with an alert per event | The site's own alerts (Investing.com); an open browser tab (Trading Economics) | See each site | Following many releases and countries |
| Broker apps (Fidelity, for one) | Alerts on prices, economic announcements and news | Push; price alerts by text or email | Needs an account with the broker | Investors who already trade there |
| Avos News | Alerts when a US indicator or the market's odds of a Fed move cross your level, and a briefing with the numbers and related news | Email: as it happens, a daily digest or a weekly report | Free Starter plan; alerts use a little credit (pricing) | Caring about the number, not the clock |
How do Avos alerts on Fed rates and CPI work?
First, the limits. Avos alerts aren't real-time: an indicator reaches your alert hours after its release, and inflation means headline CPI year on year only, not core CPI, the monthly change or the gap to forecasts. A Fed move shows up through the daily Fed funds rate or the market's rate odds, not the 2:00 p.m. statement.
Within those limits, an Avos price alert can watch a US economic indicator instead of a market price, and fires when a new reading comes in above or below your level. It reads the indicators exactly as Avos's public Macroboard shows them:
- Rates: the Fed funds rate, the 2- and 10-year Treasury yields, and the yield curve (the 10-year minus the 2-year).
- Prices: inflation, meaning consumer prices year on year from the Consumer Price Index.
- Jobs and growth: unemployment, jobs added over the past year, GDP growth, retail sales and durable goods.
It can also watch the market's odds, in percent, of a Fed hike or a cut at the next meeting, read a few times a day. Those two aren't on the public board.
How fast, exactly: a new figure reaches your alert within about three hours of reaching the Macroboard's data, and the alert goes out at your plan's next price check. The Fed funds rate there is the overnight rate banks charge each other, as a daily figure.
How do you set it up in Avos?
- Create a free account and open Alerts > New alert.
- Describe it in a sentence ("Alert me when inflation comes in above 4%", "Tell me if the odds of a Fed cut go above 70%"), or choose Economic indicator in the form, then the indicator and your level. Avos warns you if the latest reading has already crossed it.
- Choose once (it pauses after firing) or every time (it fires when a new reading crosses your level, and again only after one has gone back).
- Pick the delivery: as it happens, a daily digest or a weekly report, by email. Preview it, then save.
To catch a Fed move in one alert, give it two levels on the Fed funds rate: "below 3.75%" and "above 4%". It tracks the daily rate, which moves after a decision, not the statement itself. These levels assume the 3.75% to 4% range the Fed set on 28 October 2026; update them after each meeting.
To hear about every release regardless of the number, use a news alert instead: add the Federal Reserve from Avos's feed directory, or paste the BLS's CPI feed, and have it tell you about every new item. News alerts are checked less often than price alerts; the pricing page lists how often on each plan.
For context rather than alarms, a market briefing can carry the indicators, the Fed odds and the Fed's own feed in one email.
When is another option the better choice?
- You need the release at the moment it's published. For the 2:00 p.m. statement or the 8:30 a.m. CPI print, use the Fed's or the BLS's email and RSS, or a calendar with push alerts. Avos works in hours.
- You trade the print. Use your broker's platform, where the alert and the order sit side by side.
- You follow core CPI, forecasts or other countries. An economic calendar covers far more releases than Avos's US indicators.
- You only want the dates. Subscribe to the BLS calendar file and bookmark the FOMC calendar.
Avos fits when the level matters more than the moment ("tell me if inflation is back above 4%"), or when you'd rather get rates, Fed odds and related news in one weekly email.
Nothing here is investment advice. Figures are the latest published and are often revised.
FAQ
What time does US CPI come out?
At 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, once a month. The BLS's CPI schedule lists the dates: 10 November 2026 for October's figures, then 10 December 2026 and 13 January 2027.
What time does the Fed announce interest rate decisions?
On the last day of each FOMC meeting, in a press release. The 28 October 2026 statement was released at 2:00 p.m. EDT. The FOMC calendar lists the meetings; the next is on 8 and 9 December 2026.
Can I get an email when inflation goes above a certain level?
Yes. In Avos, create a price alert on the inflation indicator ("Alert me when inflation comes in above 4%"). It fires when a new CPI reading, measured year on year, crosses your level, hours after the release. The free Starter plan includes alerts; the pricing page shows how many.
Can I track the odds of a Fed rate cut?
Yes. Avos alerts and briefings can follow the market's odds, in percent, of a Fed hike or cut at its next meeting, read a few times a day.
Is a Fed or CPI alert from Avos investment advice?
No. Alerts and briefings report published figures and the market's odds, for information only. They don't recommend trades.