Understanding Business 10th Edition by William Nickels,James McHugh,Susan McHugh

Exercise 9

Imagine that your boss asked you to help her to prepare the company's sales forecast for the coming two years. In the past, she felt that trends in the nation's GDP, U.S. manufacturing, and manufacturing in Illinois were especially helpful in forecasting sales. She would like you to do the following:
Return to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' home page and use the Search feature to find trends in employment for the state of Illinois. Look around the website to see what other information is available. Plot the trend in manufacturing employment in Illinois over the last four years. On your own, discuss what economic changes may have influenced that trend.