Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Using Google Trends to Get a Real-Time Snapshot of the Economy

The Bank of England uses Google Trends to monitor the economy in real time.

The Bank of England found that the trend in searches for real estate agents is a better predictor of future home prices than the surveys carried out by industry groups. With regard to unemployment, the estimates based on searches for "Jobseeker’s Allowance" (the British term for unemployment benefits) are as accurate as the actual number of people claiming the main unemployment benefit.

1 comment:

  1. Can't wait for when "Gov't Beancounter Jobseeker's Allowance" trends.

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