By Nick McLaren of the Bank’s Conjunctural Assessment and Projections Division and Rachana Shanbhogue of the Bank’s Structural Economic Analysis Division.
Data on the volume of online searches can be used as indicators of economic activity. This article examines the use of these data for labour and housing markets in the United Kingdom. These data provide some additional information relative to existing surveys. And with further development, internet search data could become an important tool for economic analysis.
Using internet search data as economic indicators