Write an introduction: In your own words, state the purpose of the assignment and specify the time-frame of comparison. Discuss briefly why you chose the two indicators that you did; for example, do you think the two indicators are connected in a meaningful way? Do you have a personal interest in one of the indicators? In other words, inform the audience why you think it is important to investigate these two indicators. 2. Visualize the data: Produce graphs or tables for the the two indicators using two different time-windows. 2016-2019 (before COVID). Treat this as the baseline period, which you will treat as a basis for comparison. Feb or March 2020-2022 (or whichever is the latest available data). Plot data as % change, in addition to levels. Think carefully about how you want to report your data: With a graph or with a table? Do you want to plot your data in terms of levels or in % changes? For example, do you want to report the level of GDP or the growth in GDP from one quarter to another? If the data is high frequency (weekly or daily such as unemployment claims or the stock market index), perhaps you should average it to a monthly frequency. How are the indicators related to one another? Compared before and after: was there any change from 2016-19 (pre-pandemic) to during and post COVID-19? What there a notable change in the pattern of behavior in the indicators that you chose? 3. Interpret the data: Find two more articles about the indicators, in addition to the ones you already submitted. Use your newspapers sources to narrow down your interpretation of the data: what is the story you want to tell? Is the pattern that you report normal compared to past recessions and recovery? Use the newspaper article you found to look for explanations and insights as to why the indicators behaved the way they did 4. Write a summary and conclusion.
