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Measuring Economics Indicators
To determine how well the economyis satisfying people'wants and needs, economists study factors, or indicators, of the economy. Economic indicators are important data or statistics that measure economic activity and business cycles. Leading economic indicators are economic factors or conditions that normally change before the rest of the economy deos.
Three Major Economic Indicators
Gross domestic product, or GDP, is the dollar value of all final goods and services produced in the nation in a single year. To calculate the GDP, economist compute the sum of goods and services.
They include four main areas:
* Consumer goods and services
*Business goods and services
*Government goods and services
*Goods and services sold to other countries
Another important economic indicator is the number of people who are unemployed during a given period time. Or the Unempoyment rate which is the percentage of the unemployed workforce looking for jobs. Business and Government leaders are interested in how many new jobs the economy creates during a period of time, because this is one indicator of economic growth.