Real time estimates of GDP growth

This paper describes the components of the EICIE, the Econometric Institute Current Indicator of the Economy. This measure concerns quarterly and annual growth of Dutch real Gross Domestic Product. The key component of our real-time forecasting model for Dutch quarterly GDP is weekly staffing services obtained from Randstad company, which is single explanatory variable. We show that these two variables are cointegrated, and that the staffing variable helps to give quarterly GDP figures with just a two-week delay.