Economic Indicator

criterion or measure of the state of the economy

An economic indicator (or business indicator) is a statistic about the economy. Economic indicators allow analysis of economic performance and predictions of future performance. Economic indicators include various indices, earnings reports, and economic summaries, such as unemployment, housing starts, Consumer Price Index (a measure for inflation), industrial production, bankruptcies, Gross Domestic Product, retail sales, stock market prices, and money supply changes. Economic indicators are primarily studied in a branch of macroeconomics called "business cycles". The leading business cycle dating committee in the United States of America is the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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statistical data showing general trends in the economy. Those with predictive value are leading indicators; those occurring at the same time as the related economic activity are coincident indicators; and those that only become apparent after the activity are lagging indicators. Examples are unemployment, housing starts, Consumer Price Index, industrial production, bankruptcies, GDP, stock market prices, money supply changes, and retail sales.