Bank of Israel Using Search Data to Get a Pulse on Economic Activity

The Bank of Israel recently posted a brief analysis highlighting how they have looked at Google Insights for Search to predict economic activity. I highly encourage reading through the white paper linked from the press release; it truly shows the power and depth you can get into when analyzing search data.

A very interesting result from this analysis shows some good news for the Israeli economy:

In the last few months the query indices in Israel point to a reduction in the probability of a slowdown; that conclusion is based on the moderation of the decline in private consumption. The indices do, however, indicate a steep increase in unemployment in the second quarter of the year, to more than 8 percent.

It is reassuring to see these kinds of analyses pop up outside of Markets with Search. Thanks for the tip on this press release, Hal.

I will try to repost these articles as I come across them to point to ideas outside of MWS. Have a great weekend and happy trading.