How_Money_Works_-_The_Facts_Visually_Explained

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GOVERNMENT FINANCE AND PUBLIC MONEY

Attempting control

How it works

The main indicators governments use to monitor

the economy are based on surveys of individuals,

businesses, and government departments. A national

statistics agency is usually charged with running the

survey, and then calculating the figures. The agency

will look at the economy, business, industry and trade,

the employment and labour markets, and society in

general. The “headline indicators” generally relate

to parts of the economy that have the most impact

on people’s daily lives, and might include assessments

of the likelihood that individuals will find employment,

whether their pay will go up or down, and whether

businesses will be able to expand.

W

ages

U

n

em

ployme

n

t

the year the US Bureau of Labor

1884 Statistics was formed to analyse data

This is the

proportion of

those who could

work and who

want to work, but

are not currently

employed. It is

measured as a

percentage and

varies widely

from country

to country.

Data on

wages are

usually shown

as a growth

figure. As prices

rise due to inflation,

wages must rise

even faster in order

to ensure living

standards are

continually

improving.

116-117_Reading_Economic_Indicators.indd 117 13/10/2016 15:36