Now Available - Data from EIU

The library now subscribes to 2 new data databases from the Economists Intelligence Unit (EIU)

EIU City Data
A global database of product prices and business costs providing over 330 prices levels on more than 160 products and services in 140 cities worldwide from 1990 to the present.

EIU Market Indicators & Forecasts
A comprehensive database of economic, demographic, consumption and industry data on 60 major countries worldwide and 11 regional aggregates, stretching back to 1990. The product includes detailed economic and industry forecasts for the next five years and longer-term economic projections.

The interface provides easy downloads to Excel or use the quick charting function.

Questions? Barbara Mento, Data/GIS, Economics Librarian

New OECD Reports on Obesity and Healthcare Costs

From OECD Fact Blog

Education, Income and Social Factors
"Obesity is not just about weight. It is associated with chronic conditions that are costly to treat, such as heart disease and diabetes. Since the 1980s, obesity has risen right across the OECD area, and has begun to emerge in poorer countries too."
Report includes links to data underlying data in Excel format.

GPs and Healthcare Costs
"It may be common knowledge that doctors’ pay outstrips average wages, with the really high earnings going to medical specialists. But now, more and more doctors are becoming specialised, with implications for costs and healthcare policy more generally."
Report includes links to data underlying data in Excel format.

Visit our full OECD iLibrary database with comprehensive access to statistical data and full text of books, journals and working papers from OECD.

Happy World Statistics Day! New ILO Database

Press Release from Geneva:

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has launched a new statistics database containing timely information on the labour market and consumer prices aimed at providing vital information needed by policy makers faced with a global economic and social crisis.

The new database, Short Term Indicators of the Labour Market, was launched by the ILO Department of Statistics on World Statistics Day (20 October) and will be updated each month with the latest national data for indicators reflecting recent- and short-term changes on the labour market.

“Governments, employers’ organizations, trade unions, labour market analysts and the media can now count on an improved labour statistics tool, allowing them to better monitor, understand, and analyze the recent events in labour markets”, says Rafael Diez de Medina, Director of the ILO Department of Statistics.

The new database contains selected indicators for some 70 countries and territories that gather infra-annual information for the current year. In addition, 40 indicators are available disaggregated by sex.

The new service also includes an interactive map containing most of the data organized by country and topic. Country profiles provide a quick and accurate snapshot of each country’s labour market situation, while information organized by topic allows for cross-country comparison and global analysis. Data are collected in close contact with National Statistical Offices and the process has been optimized in order to extract the greatest amount of information in the shortest period of time.

Especially interesting is the inclusion of seasonally adjusted sectoral data. In the first case, official adjustments were compiled for countries which adjust their data and the ILO has adjusted the time series in the rest of the cases.

The information has passed through quality controls but is nonetheless subject to revisions that the countries may undertake in the future. Users can obtain a printable page with latest data and information can be downloaded to Excel files.

Locating and Using Data for Secondary Research Workshop Oct. 19 at Noon

Locating and Using Data for Secondary Research

Oct 19 12:00 - 1:30 O'Neill 307

Boston College offers many sources and repositories of data for secondary research in the social sciences, education, nursing, economics, business and other disciplines. This workshop is particularly geared to researchers who need to access, analyze and manipulate data from BC's subscription data repositories. This tutorial will help you: find the data you need for your research or class project; learn about the Boston College collection of data resources in the Statistical Data Catalog; and how to download the data onto your desktop, including how to import into quantitative analytical tools such as SPSS. Get a tour of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, a data archive that includes over 5,000 datasets.
We will also discuss the library’s guides to key Business, Economics, Education, Health, and General U.S. and cross-national data sources. Topics may be customized based on attendees’ research interests. Please contact datasupport@bc.edu for more information.

Co-taught by Rani Dalgin, Senior Statistical Consultant, ITS Research Services and Barbara Mento, Data/GIS Librarian

To register please send email to researchservices@bc.edu with the name of the tutorial(s) that you are interested in attending.