An unconventional weekly economic activity index for Germany

Sercan Eraslan and Thomas Götz

Economics Letters, 2021, vol. 204, issue C

Abstract: We introduce an unconventional activity index for the German economy at weekly frequency in order to monitor economic developments in real time. The index contains nine high-frequency, rather unconventional weekly indicators. These are augmented by monthly industrial production and quarterly gross domestic product (GDP). The weekly activity index is then calculated as the common factor of the mixed-frequency dataset. We show that the index (i) exhibits a high correlation with quarterly GDP growth, (ii) is able to serve as a reliable weekly coincident indicator for economic activity, and (iii) can be used to generate timely nowcasts for GDP growth in Germany.

Keywords: Business cycle; Economic indicator; Factor analysis; High frequency; Mixed frequency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C38 C43 E32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:204:y:2021:i:c:s0165176521001580

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2021.109881

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