Economic Indicators
Dates and duration
April 13 - 24, 2009
Tuition
$3,270
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.
As a supplementary course, Training of Trainers is open to all
participants of this seminar.
Last modified: November 12, 2008
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