U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

International Technical Cooperation

Economic Indicators

Dates

May 7 – 18, 2012

Application deadline

April 7, 2012

Tuition

$3,800

Participants

This seminar is designed primarily for economists, statisticians, researchers, analysts, and managers working with economic indicators. Participants should have an elementary knowledge of statistics and some experience in analyzing labor or social data.

Objectives

To identify key economic indicators, and how they signal changes in the direction of the economy, or economic activity by:

• Developing participants' ability to analyze the impact of and correlation among important economic indicators
• Developing skills in presenting statistical reports and data to decisionmakers and other users in an understandable and useful manner

Program content

Economic and business decisions are based on economic information and the status of economic activity. Policy-makers, businesses, consumers, and governments are constantly utilizing economic information to assess how well the economy is performing.

The economic indicators to be discussed in this seminar will include:

Employment

• Labor market information fosters an understanding of the application of labor force and employment statistics, and their relationship to policy formulation and decisionmaking in the human resources field.

Wages

• Determining levels and trends of pay rates by occupation, industry, locality, and region is important in the analysis of current economic developments and in studies relating to wage dispersion and differentials.

Prices

• Price indexes, indicators of the rate of inflation in a country's economy, also serve as a yardstick for adjusting wages, salaries, and other income payments to keep in step with rising prices. Price indexes are also useful in formulating economic policies to maintain wage and price stability, to evaluate tax proposals, and to adjust national accounts for inflation and deflation.

Industrial production

• Measures of industrial production by market and industry groupings reflect trends in a country's economy and are useful, in correlation with other economic indicators, in analyzing economic growth.

Manufacturing and trade sales

• Sales, inventories, and inventories-sales ratios affect the general economy and are influenced by various economic factors.

Currency exchange rates

• Analysis will include the impact of currency exchange rates on import-export activities and economic growth. Explanations of exchange rate movements frequently focus on changes in credit market conditions, reflected by changes in interest rate differentials across countries, and changes in the monetary policies of central banks.

Money supply and interest rates

• Study will cover how money supply and interest rates are determined, their correlation with other economic factors, and their impact on economic activities and growth.

Productivity

• Productivity is one of the major determinants of the standard of living, since increases in productivity can result in higher real income and increased price stability. The measurement of productivity is an important element in the evaluation of the relative efficiency of factor utilization, domestically and internationally.

Employment projections

• The projections of employment by occupation and industry and their accompanying econometric measures are important indicators for human resource planners and administrators in determining education and job skills training programs.

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Last modified: February 9, 2012