National Statistics online has had a well overdue make over. The new web design takes up the whole screen and is easier to navigate and read. It also comes with RSS feed which is useful
For any economist, National Statistics Online is a very useful resource for finding latest data and statistics and understanding some of the changes which occur. It includes a broad snapshot of the economy, with the main economic indicators.
- Economic Growth
- Inflation
- Balance of Payments
- Unemployment
- Productivity
- Consumer spending
It is an excellent site for an A Level student to visit and try and understand.
There are also interesting statistics on population and social demographics which might influence economic trends.
It can be hard to navigate and some statistics are unfortunately not there. For example, recently I wanted to find statistics on consumer debt / personal debt. But, searching the site gave disappointing results.
I like the explanations they give for changes in inflation. For example, if we look at last entry on inflation. They give the main reasons for why inflation has crept up. This is excellent reading for students and will help put into practice theories about cost push inflation and demand pull inflation.
I would like to see the site expanded with more themes such as personal debt. It would also be good to find longer historical trends. e.g. rather than show inflation trends in past 4 years. I would like to be able to see trends since 1990, 1980 and since 1945.