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Nowcasting Unemployment Rates with Google Searches: Evidence from the Visegrad Group Countries

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: The online activity of Internet users has repeatedly been shown to provide a rich information set for various research fields. We focus on job-related searches on Google and their possible usefulness in the region of the Visegrad Group--the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Even for rather small economies, the online searches of inhabitants can be successfully utilized for macroeconomic predictions. Specifically, we study unemployment rates and their interconnection with job-related searches. We show that Google searches enhance nowcasting models of unemployment rates for the Czech Republic and Hungary whereas for Poland and Slovakia, the results are mixed.

Source: PLoS ONE

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127084

Authors: Jaroslav Pavlicek, Ladislav Kristoufek

Institutions: Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Information Theory and Automation, Charles University, University of Warwick

Language: English

Topic: Forecasting Techniques and Applications

Subfield: Management Science and Operations Research

Field: Decision Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,654