Data Exercises for Economics 100

Complete each exercise below before its individual due date. (See the Assignments tab in Canvas.)

Important General Information

Gini Index

Using FRED data for the Gini Index, create a time series plot for the Gini Index for the US from 1991 to the most recently available year.

GDP Plots

Produce two time series plots: one for the level of nominal GDP, and one for the level of real GDP.

Growth Plots

Using the same real GDP data as in the GDP Plots exercise, use Excel to compute the growth rates (quarterly, or annualzed if you prefer). Use your computed data to produce a time series plot for the growth rate of real GDP.
Using your computed growth rates, produce a box plot for the growth rate of real GDP.
In a separate textbox on the same sheet as the box plot, add a short explanation of your box-whisker plot.

Unemployment in a Pie Chart

On the Bureau of Labor Statistics website, find the most recent release of Table A-1 ("Employment status of the civilian population by sex and age"). Use this data to create a pie chart showing the division of the civilian population into employed, unemployed, and out of the labor force. For this assignment, you can use BLS Table A-1 as the data source.

Use the chart options to move the legend above the chart.
The title should be Civilian Population (xxx,xxx thousand) where you fill in the civilian population (in thousands).
Use the chart options to add data labels.

CPI and Inflation Plots

Use monthly data for the CPI.

Produce time-series plots for the CPI, using a ratio scale (which Excel calls a logarithmic scale).
Produce time-series plots for the inflation rate, computed as the the percentage change in the CPI.
Produce a box-whisker chart for the inflation rates. Add a text box holding your interpretation of the box and whisker chart.

Unemployment and Inflation

Get data on the civilian unemployment rate (UNRATE) and the CPI (CPIAUCSL) from FRED.
Compute the inflation rate as the annualized percentage change in the CPI. (If you use monthly data, approximate by computing the percentage change and then multiplying by 12.)
Make a time series plot of the civilian unemployment rate and the inflation rate, in a single chart.
Make a scatter plot for the Phillips curve, with unemployment rate on the x-axis and the inflation rate on the y-axis.
Using the same data set, make anoither scatter plot for the Phillips curve, but this time just for 1960–1969.
Finally, using all the data, make a scatter plot for a “modified Phillips curve”. This still puts the unemployment rate on the x-axis, but it puts the change in the inflation rate on the y-axis.

Excel Hints

Hint

Here are two ways to move one (1) Excel chart to its own sheet. In either case, first create a new sheet. Multiple charts can share this new sheet.

The old but tried-and-true way: go back to the chart, click it, and copy it (or cut it). Then switch back to the new sheet, and paste it. This should work on every platform (including online versions).

The new way: right click it (near the top of the chart) and select Move Chart. (This does not appear to be working in Office 365 for Web.) Pick "Object In" and pick your new sheet sheet.

The new way redux: If you right-click but pick "New Sheet", your chart will move to a special chart-sheet area. This is only for a single (1) chart.

After putting the chart(s) on a separate sheet, use the sheet tabs at the bottom to move this sheet to the beginning of the workbook.

Text Box

To add information in an Excel chart that contains a plot, insert a text box at the bottom and enter this information. (Note that in the Excel application on your computer, you can resize a line plot within the chart area.) This support document describes how to add a text box. Be sure to selection the chart first and then add the text box to it. (Check by moving the chart; the text box should move with it.) This video and this video illustrate how to add a text box. Remember that you can change the font size in a text box, and you may like a small font size for some information.

It is desirable for your textbox to be in the chart area, so that if you move the chart, the text will move with it.

Growth Rates

This video (by MDTechVideos) shows how to produce a time series of growth rates from a time series of levels. To select two non-adjacent columns, see this video. To move the dates below the chart area, change the Labels option.

Box-Whisker Charts

This Box and Whisker Plot video (by Paula's Crypto and Tech) illustrates the chart creation process and provides help with box-plot interpretation. (The box-whisker chart will have different menu locations in different Excel versions.)

Pie Charts

To produce a pie chart, see the Microsoft documentation and this video.