Pavlicek, J. & Kristoufek, L.: Nowcasting unemployment rates with Google searches: Evidence from the Visegrad Group countries
| Author(s): | prof. PhDr. Ladislav Krištoufek Ph.D., Jaroslav Pavlíček M.A., |
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| Type: | Articles in journals with impact factor |
| Year: | 2015 |
| Number: | 0 |
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| Published in: | PLoS ONE 10(5): e0127084 arXiv PDF |
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| Keywords: | unemployment, nowcasting, online activity, Google Trends |
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| Grants: | DYME – Dynamic Models in Economics |
| 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. |
