Research Guides: Indicators: Overview

What are Indicators?

Indicators are a specific subsection of statistics. Indicators covered in this research guide are those most related to business and finance.

Bloomberg.com (website)
Quick overview of stock indices or futures by global regions.
Financial Forecast Center
Provides forecasts for a variety of stock market indexes, interest rates, currency exchange rates and commodity prices.
OPEC Market Indicators
Oil industry trend data, such as output levels, oil prices, & supply and demand. Some historical data available.

Bloomberg
Contains futures data for global indices and commodities. Find financial ratios using the command FA. See currency information using the F11 key and search for interest rates on government bonds.
Restricted to only current SMU students, faculty & staff. Available only in the Business Library on the lower level of Hamon Arts Library. Use the Excel Add-In to obtain and organize Bloomberg data in spreadsheets. Information about the Bloomberg Certification program.

Cost of Living Index (COLI) This link opens in a new window
Compare cost of living data across US cities. Historical data available for download.

FRED
Track economic data from hundreds of sources. Includes thousands of international time series with downloads and graphs.
Economic Indicators GovInfo
Detailed monthly reports for economic outputs, employment, prices, production, federal and international statistics. Download monthly or sector reports as PDF or XLS.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Explore data and analysis on economic indicators such as inflation, employment, pay, and consumer spending.

Connect This link opens in a new window
Hover over Country Intelligence and choose Data Browser - Global Economy. Search by indicator and narrow by geography. Export data to Excel.
View the Economic Research tutorial for more insights.

World Bank World Development Indicators
See current and historical global economic development statistics.
The Global Economy
Download latest annual indicators for multiple countries. Explore tabs for rankings, prices of products, or compare annual data sets (with customizable date ranges) using official cited sources.

Bloomberg
Press the F7 key to find economic indicators such as CPI, GDP and more. Type the command ECST to access world economic statistics.
Restricted to only current SMU students, faculty & staff. Available only in the Business Library on the lower level of Hamon Arts Library. Use the Excel Add-In to obtain and organize Bloomberg data in spreadsheets. Information about the Bloomberg Certification program.

Subjects: Business