Economic Principles – Macroeconomics

Overview

It is important to be able to convey your understanding of macroeconomic concepts by communicating them to others. In the workplace you might do this by writing papers or reports (as you did for the Week 5 assignment) or creating presentations for your team, manager, or clients. For this assignment, you will develop a final report.

An Example Macroeconomic Paper and Macroeconomic Paper Template are provided below for this assignment.

For this final report assignment, you can use the same industry you selected for the Week 3 assignment, or you can select another industry.

• Prepare a 2–3 page final report in which you examine one of the macroeconomic variables below: 
  • Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
  • The unemployment rate.
  • The inflation rate.

Instructions

• Visit the Census Bureau (NAICS) website and select an industry that has a description. Some of the smaller industries are named, but not described. 
  • The industry could be broad, such as industry 11 Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting, or it could be narrow, such as industry 112112 Cattle Feedlots. 
    • The more digits in the industry label, the narrower the industry.

In a few short paragraphs:

1. Describe your selected industry using the industry description at the NAICS website. Be sure to write in your own words. Don’t just copy and paste the NAICS text. 
   • Identify some of the major companies in this industry. You will probably have to do a Google search for this information. For example, you could search for “Biggest U.S. Cattle Feedlots.
   • Identify the goods, and/or services this industry produces. Use the information from the NAICS website. You can supplement this information with what you find in a separate Google search.
2. Select one of three macroeconomic variables (real GDP, the unemployment rate, or the inflation rate) that a business person in your chosen industry should monitor, and explain why that variable is important and how it might have an impact on your selected industry.
3. Describe in a sentence or two the important movements of the variable in the table and graph. 
   • Excel tables and graphs are attached for each of the three macroeconomic variables (real GDP, the unemployment rate, and the inflation rate). 
     • (See the Week 9 Assignment with NAICS Example [DOCX] below)
   • Review the Excel table and graph for the macroeconomic variable that you chose.
4. Summarize how you think this industry will perform in the future. 
   • Be sure to provide support for your prediction of this future industry performance.
5. Your report should include a minimum of two references/citations in the text.
6. This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards. For assistance and information, please refer to the Strayer Writing Standards link in the left-hand menu of your course. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.