Quarterly National Accounts/High Frequency Indicators of Economic Activity

Source details

Canonical URL: Quarterly National Accounts/High Frequency Indicators of Economic Activity

Session No.: OL 23.232
Date: September 1, 2023 - April 15, 2024 (32 weeks)
Delivery Method: Online Training
Location: Course conducted online
Primary Language: English
Enrollment status: Deadline passed
Qualifications: Knowledge of economics and statistics or equivalent experience is helpful. Access to a computer with a reliable Internet connection and a Google Chrome web browser are essential.

Target Audience:
- Anyone interested in learning how to compile and disseminate Quarterly National Accounts (QNA) and High-Frequency Indicators of Economic Activity (HFIEAs) according to the System of National Accounts recommendations.
- Practitioners seeking to use high-frequency data to analyze current economic developments.
Purpose:
- Provide an introductory, practical, and theoretical grounding in timely and high-quality compilation of QNA and HFIEAs.

Core topics covered:
- Concepts, data sources, and compilation techniques for producing QNA and HFIEAs.
- Benchmarking techniques and seasonal adjustment methods.
- Volume estimates and the application of these techniques to time series data.
- Identification and assessment of available data sources.
- Use of real-time series databases to assess data quality.
- Implementation of a suitable revisions policy for compiling QNA and HFIEAs.
Emphases:
- Practical compilation issues alongside theoretical foundations.
- Assessment of data quality using real-time databases.
- Designing and describing a balanced revisions policy.

Compilation skills:
- Apply basic techniques for compiling benchmarked series and filling data gaps.
- Review available data sources for compiling QNA and HFIEAs.
Time series techniques:
- Apply basic seasonal adjustment techniques to time series, based on good seasonal adjustment practices.
- Introduce volume estimates and explain the basic relation between value, quantity, and price.
- Expand on how to detect and address issues such as the need for updated weights and recognize the loss of additivity for chain-linked volume estimates.
Data governance:
- Describe a balanced revisions policy taking into consideration how a related real-time database can be used to assess the reliability of the QNA and HFIEA estimates.

Recognize the role, scope, uses, and compilation frameworks for QNA and HFIEAs.
Review available data sources for compiling QNA and HFIEAs.
Explain the use of volume measures and the basic relation between value, quantity, and price—including detection and mitigation of issues such as the need for updated weights and loss of additivity for chain-linked volume estimates.
Apply basic techniques for compiling benchmarked series and filling data gaps.
Apply basic seasonal adjustment techniques to time series, based on good seasonal adjustment practices.
Describe a balanced revisions policy and how a real-time database can be used to assess estimate reliability.