IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v92y2015icp132-139.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Forecasting unemployment with internet search data: Does it help to improve predictions when job destruction is skyrocketing?

Author

Listed:
  • Vicente, María Rosalía
  • López-Menéndez, Ana J.
  • Pérez, Rigoberto

Abstract

As more and more daily activities take place online, data on internet behaviour is becoming a key information source. In this sense, several papers have explored the usefulness of internet search data in order to improve the nowcasting and forecasting of economic indicators. Special attention has been paid to predicting unemployment. Nonetheless, most of the empirical evidence on this field has focused in countries with low/moderate rates of unemployment.

Suggested Citation

  • Vicente, María Rosalía & López-Menéndez, Ana J. & Pérez, Rigoberto, 2015. "Forecasting unemployment with internet search data: Does it help to improve predictions when job destruction is skyrocketing?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 132-139.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:92:y:2015:i:c:p:132-139
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2014.12.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162514003904
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2014.12.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Konstantin A. Kholodilin & Maximilian Podstawski & Boriss Siliverstovs, 2010. "Do Google Searches Help in Nowcasting Private Consumption?: A Real-Time Evidence for the US," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 997, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    2. Fondeur, Y. & Karamé, F., 2013. "Can Google data help predict French youth unemployment?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 117-125.
    3. Graeme Chamberlin, 2010. "Googling the present," Economic & Labour Market Review, Palgrave Macmillan;Office for National Statistics, vol. 4(12), pages 59-95, December.
    4. Nikolaos Askitas & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2009. "Google Econometrics and Unemployment Forecasting," Applied Economics Quarterly (formerly: Konjunkturpolitik), Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 55(2), pages 107-120.
    5. D'Amuri, Francesco & Marcucci, Juri, 2009. "‘Google it!’ Forecasting the US unemployment rate with a Google job search index," ISER Working Paper Series 2009-32, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    6. Siganos, Antonios, 2013. "Google attention and target price run ups," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 219-226.
    7. Tanya Suhoy, 2009. "Query Indices and a 2008 Downturn: Israeli Data," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2009.06, Bank of Israel.
    8. Zhi Da & Joseph Engelberg & Pengjie Gao, 2011. "In Search of Attention," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1461-1499, October.
    9. Simeon Vosen & Torsten Schmidt, 2011. "Forecasting private consumption: survey‐based indicators vs. Google trends," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 565-578, September.
    10. Concha Artola & Enrique Galán, 2012. "Tracking the future on the web: construction of leading indicators using internet searches," Occasional Papers 1203, Banco de España.
    11. Jun, Seung-Pyo & Park, Do-Hyung & Yeom, Jaeho, 2014. "The possibility of using search traffic information to explore consumer product attitudes and forecast consumer preference," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 237-253.
    12. repec:zbw:rwirep:0382 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Schmidt, Torsten & Vosen, Simeon, 2012. "Using Internet Data to Account for Special Events in Economic Forecasting," Ruhr Economic Papers 382, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    14. Smith, Geoffrey Peter, 2012. "Google Internet search activity and volatility prediction in the market for foreign currency," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 103-110.
    15. Konstantin Kholodilin & Maximilian Podstawski & Boriss Siliverstovs, 2010. "Do Google Searches Help in Nowcasting Private Consumption?," KOF Working papers 10-256, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    16. McLaren, Nick & Shanbhogue, Rachana, 2011. "Using internet search data as economic indicators," Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Bank of England, vol. 51(2), pages 134-140.
    17. Vlastakis, Nikolaos & Markellos, Raphael N., 2012. "Information demand and stock market volatility," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1808-1821.
    18. Vosen, Simeon & Schmidt, Torsten, 2012. "A monthly consumption indicator for Germany based on Internet search query data," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 19(7), pages 683-687.
    19. Joseph, Kissan & Babajide Wintoki, M. & Zhang, Zelin, 2011. "Forecasting abnormal stock returns and trading volume using investor sentiment: Evidence from online search," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 1116-1127, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Georgios Bampinas & Theodore Panagiotidis & Christina Rouska, 2019. "Volatility persistence and asymmetry under the microscope: the role of information demand for gold and oil," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 66(1), pages 180-197, February.
    2. Schmidt, Torsten & Vosen, Simeon, 2012. "Using Internet Data to Account for Special Events in Economic Forecasting," Ruhr Economic Papers 382, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    3. D’Amuri, Francesco & Marcucci, Juri, 2017. "The predictive power of Google searches in forecasting US unemployment," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 801-816.
    4. Monge, Manuel & Claudio-Quiroga, Gloria & Poza, Carlos, 2024. "Chinese economic behavior in times of covid-19. A new leading economic indicator based on Google trends," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    5. Jianchun Fang & Wanshan Wu & Zhou Lu & Eunho Cho, 2019. "Using Baidu Index To Nowcast Mobile Phone Sales In China," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 64(01), pages 83-96, March.
    6. repec:zbw:rwirep:0382 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Coble, David & Pincheira, Pablo, 2017. "Nowcasting Building Permits with Google Trends," MPRA Paper 76514, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Siliverstovs, Boriss & Wochner, Daniel S., 2018. "Google Trends and reality: Do the proportions match?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 1-23.
    9. González-Fernández, Marcos & González-Velasco, Carmen, 2020. "A sentiment index to measure sovereign risk using Google data," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 406-418.
    10. Gomes, Pedro & Taamouti, Abderrahim, 2016. "In search of the determinants of European asset market comovements," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 103-117.
    11. Torsten Schmidt & Simeon Vosen, 2012. "Using Internet Data to Account for Special Events in Economic Forecasting," Ruhr Economic Papers 0382, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    12. Alessia Naccarato & Andrea Pierini & Stefano Falorsi, 2015. "Using Google Trend Data To Predict The Italian Unemployment Rate," Departmental Working Papers of Economics - University 'Roma Tre' 0203, Department of Economics - University Roma Tre.
    13. Smith, Geoffrey Peter, 2012. "Google Internet search activity and volatility prediction in the market for foreign currency," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 103-110.
    14. Chien-jung Ting & Yi-Long Hsiao, 2022. "Nowcasting the GDP in Taiwan and the Real-Time Tourism Data," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 12(3), pages 1-2.
    15. Nikolaos Askitas & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2015. "The internet as a data source for advancement in social sciences," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 36(1), pages 2-12, April.
    16. Fondeur, Y. & Karamé, F., 2013. "Can Google data help predict French youth unemployment?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 117-125.
    17. Chien-jung Ting & Yi-Long Hsiao & Rui-jun Su, 2022. "Application of the Real-Time Tourism Data in Nowcasting the Service Consumption in Taiwan," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 12(4), pages 1-4.
    18. Bangwayo-Skeete, Prosper F. & Skeete, Ryan W., 2015. "Can Google data improve the forecasting performance of tourist arrivals? Mixed-data sampling approach," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 454-464.
    19. Ramya Rajajagadeesan Aroul & Sanjiv Sabherwal & Sergiy Saydometov, 2022. "FEAR Index, city characteristics, and housing returns," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(1), pages 173-205, March.
    20. Nuno Barreira & Pedro Godinho & Paulo Melo, 2013. "Nowcasting unemployment rate and new car sales in south-western Europe with Google Trends," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 129-165, November.
    21. González-Fernández, Marcos & González-Velasco, Carmen, 2018. "Can Google econometrics predict unemployment? Evidence from Spain," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 42-45.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:92:y:2015:i:c:p:132-139. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.