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Real-time nowcasting the US output gap: Singular spectrum analysis at work

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  • António Rua
  • Miguel de Carvalho

Abstract

We explore a new approach for nowcasting the output gap based on singular spectrum analysis. Resorting to real-time vintages, a recursive exercise is conducted so to assess the real-time reliability of our approach for nowcasting the US output gap, in comparison with some well-known benchmark models. For our applied setting of interest, the preferred version of our approach consists of a two-channel singular spectrum analysis, where we use a Fisher g test to infer which components, within the standard business cycle range, should be included in the grouping step. We find that singular spectrum analysis provides a reliable assessment of the cyclical position of the economy in real-time, with the two-channel approach outperforming substantially the univariate counterpart.

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  • António Rua & Miguel de Carvalho, 2014. "Real-time nowcasting the US output gap: Singular spectrum analysis at work," Working Papers w201416, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    • Handle: RePEc:ptu:wpaper:w201416
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    5. Hassani, Hossein & Rua, António & Silva, Emmanuel Sirimal & Thomakos, Dimitrios, 2019. "Monthly forecasting of GDP with mixed-frequency multivariate singular spectrum analysis," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 1263-1272.
    6. Philippe Goulet Coulombe, 2022. "A Neural Phillips Curve and a Deep Output Gap," Working Papers 22-01, Chair in macroeconomics and forecasting, University of Quebec in Montreal's School of Management.
    7. de Carvalho, Miguel & Martos, Gabriel, 2020. "Brexit: Tracking and disentangling the sentiment towards leaving the EU," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 1128-1137.
    8. Juan B'ogalo & Pilar Poncela & Eva Senra, 2020. "Understanding fluctuations through Multivariate Circulant Singular Spectrum Analysis," Papers 2007.07561, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2023.
    9. Philippe Goulet Coulombe, 2022. "A Neural Phillips Curve and a Deep Output Gap," Papers 2202.04146, arXiv.org.

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