What Factors Affect Economic Forecasts?
business image by archana bhartia from Fotolia.com jQuery(document).ready(function(){ jQuery(‘#jsArticleStep1 span.image a:first’).attr(‘href’,’http://i.ehow.com/images/a05/n9/36/factors-affect-economic-forecasts_-1.1-800X800.jpg’); }); Historical trends influence economic forecasts. Economic forecasting is the practice of making predictions about how relevant economic factors might turn out in the future. For instance, to state that gross domestic product will likely increase 3 percent next year is an economic forecast. Economic forecasting can take many forms and can be influenced by many factors. History and Data At its core, economic forecasting is based upon observable data from the past and present. Data allows economists to form a historical picture of economic indicators, which they can use to predict how indicators might change. For instance, if a national census shows that population has increased 10 percent in a certain city over the past five years, that information might b