Weekly Economic Activity: Measurement and Informational Content
We construct a composite index to measure real activity of the Swiss economy on a weekly frequency. The index is based on a novel high-frequency data-set capturing economic activity across distinct dimensions over a long-time horizon. An adequate adjustment of raw data prior to deriving the latent f...| Link(s) zu Dokument(en): | WIFO Publikation |
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| Veröffentlicht in: | WIFO Working Papers |
| Hauptverfasser: | , , |
| Format: | paper |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2021
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| Zusammenfassung: | We construct a composite index to measure real activity of the Swiss economy on a weekly frequency. The index is based on a novel high-frequency data-set capturing economic activity across distinct dimensions over a long-time horizon. An adequate adjustment of raw data prior to deriving the latent factor is crucial for obtaining precise business cycle signals. By means of a real-time evaluation, we highlight the importance of our proposed adjustment procedure: first, our weekly index significantly outperforms a comparable index without adjusted input variables; secondly, the weekly index outperforms established monthly indicators in nowcasting GDP growth. These insights should help improve recently developed high-frequency indicators. |
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