School of Economics
ECMT1010: Week 1 Workshop
0. Icebreaker exercise.
1. Make the ECMT1010 software ready to go.
a) Bookmark Statkey using this link.
b) In Excel, install either the Analysis Toolpak for Windows (see here) or StatPlus LE
for Mac (see here).
2. Task: Download a dataset from the Lock textbook site.
Many times this semester you will use a Lock dataset. To download the dataset so that
you can work with it, go through the following steps.
a) Go to Statkey.
b) Click on the Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data link at the top.
c) Click on the Datasets link on the left. You should see a table listing the names of
the datasets and the various formats tailored to work with a specific software. We
will focus primarily on the Excel format (those with the xlsx or xls suffix).
d) Choose a dataset by clicking on the corresponding xlsx (or xls) link. This will
download a copy of the dataset file in Excel format to your computer (if you are
using Windows, the Excel file icon will appear at the bottom of the page).
e) Click on the icon, which opens the file in Excel. Discuss the contents of the file with
your lab partner.
3. Task: Download a dataset from the Australian Bureau of Statistics site.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is a great source of free economic and demographic data. To download an ABS labour force dataset, go through the following
steps.
a) Go to http://www.abs.gov.au/.
b) Click on the Statistics link at the top, then Key Economic Indicators, then on Labour
Force and Demography.
c) Click on ‘Unemployment rate - seasonally adjusted’ and scroll (way) down to Table
1. Labour force status by Sex, Australia - Trend, Seasonally adjusted and Original and
click on the corresponding .xls link. This will download a copy of the dataset file
in Excel format.
1
d) Open the file in Excel. Find the unemployment rate (original, as opposed to trend
or seasonally adjusted) for persons (as opposed to males or females) in November
2017. You may need to navigate among the tabs at the bottom of the Excel file or
click on the appropriate link available under the ‘Index’ tab.
e) With the help of your lab partner, find the most recent unemployment rate and
compare it to the unemployment rate from one year ago.
4. Task: Download a dataset from the Reserve Bank of Australia site.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is a great source of free economic and financial
data. To download an RBA dataset on Australian dollar (AUD) exchange rates, go
through the following steps.
a) Go to http://www.rba.gov.au/.
b) Click on the Statistics link at the top, then on ‘Economic and Financial Statistics’
and then on ‘Historical Data’.
c) Scroll down to ‘Exchange Rates – Monthly – January 2010 to latest complete month
of current year’ and click on the corresponding XLS link.
d) Open the file in Excel and look for the column headed ‘A$1=EUR’.
e) With the help of your lab partner, find the exchange rate between the AUD and the
euro (EUR) on 31 December 2019 and compare it to the exchange rate from 31
December 2020.
2