We study the impact of positive and negative macroeconomic U.S. and European news announcements in different phases of the business cycle on the high-frequency volatility of the EUR/USD exchange rate. The results suggest that news effects depend on the state of the economy. In general, news increases volatility more in good times than in bad times. News effects are also asymmetric with respect to sign: negative news increases volatility more in good times than in bad times, while there is no difference between the volatility effects of good news in bad and good times.