Download Using official statistics in government analysis

Using official statistics in
government analysis
Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs - Slotsholmsgade 10-12 - DK 1216 Copenhagen K
The requirements of official statistics
• Reliable
• Timely
• Comparable
– Over time
– Between countries
Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs - Slotsholmsgade 10-12 - DK 1216 Copenhagen K
Reliability – labour market statistics (1)
60
40
20
0
-201999K3
1999K4
2000K4
2001K4
2002K4
2003K4
2004K4
-40
-60
-80
Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs - Slotsholmsgade 10-12 - DK 1216 Copenhagen K
AKU
WTA
ATP
NA
Reliability – labour market statistics (2)
• What should the producers of statistics do?
– Document the reasons for the different
developments
– Help interpret the different developments
Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs - Slotsholmsgade 10-12 - DK 1216 Copenhagen K
Timeliness (1)
• Fast statistics is desirable
• There is a trade off between fast and accurate
statistics
• Slow statistics may be better than fast statistic
with large revisions
Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs - Slotsholmsgade 10-12 - DK 1216 Copenhagen K
Timeliness (2)
Growth in 2003 at different points in time
1.0
Percent
0.5
0.0
-0.5
GDP
Employment
-1.0
-1.5
-2.0
Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs - Slotsholmsgade 10-12 - DK 1216 Copenhagen K
Mar-04
Today
Comparability between countries
• Will make benchmarking easier
• Data not always comparable today
• Key objective of international institutions in
the future
– United Nations
– Eurostat
Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs - Slotsholmsgade 10-12 - DK 1216 Copenhagen K
350
350
300
300
250
250
200
200
150
150
100
100
50
50
0
0
DEU
DNK
FRA
FIN
USA
GBR
Pct.
Pct.
Capital stock as percentage of GDP
SWE
Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs - Slotsholmsgade 10-12 - DK 1216 Copenhagen K