Sample Search: Give the GDP (seasonally adjusted, constant prices) for Spain on a monthly basis from 1980 to the present.

NOTE: One will often encounter the same description for an economic indicator with 2 or more codes. The only difference will often be the final letter of the code. Common designators are:

The program for looking up economic codes in Datastream does not have a simple HELP command associated with it. Rather, it is indicated only by its number, 150Z. Enter 150Z in the "Program Number" area and press Enter.

In the new program window, there will be a list of geographic regions. Select number 71, Other Countries M-Z. Press Enter.

Choose the geographic region of interest in this case Spain, number 23. Press Enter.

Select the specific area of economic interest from the provided list of categories. In this case, choose 1, Economic Indicators. Press Enter.

Choose the series code from the resulting list of items. There are two Datastream codes for unemployment in Spain. In this example, we are interested in seasonally adjusted, constant prices. The correct mnemonic is ESGDP…D

Drag the cursor to the box marked Macro at the top of the screen. Click on Macro and the click on Edit Macro. Select download.mac from the list of choices and then click OK.

A notepad screen will appear. Change ONLY what it is within quotation marks on this screen. At the top line change the file name to a:\yourfile.csv

It is important that you save the macro as a CSV file so that you can open the data in Microsoft Excel, Stata, and SAS. If you do not have a floppy disk with you, save the file to the hard drive and then FTP the document to your Unix account. Files left on SSRC computers will be erased.

At the line that begins SEND, enter the dates of your search. After the first quotation mark, there is a comma. After this comma, enter the starting date in the form of MM-DD-YY, followed by a comma (see image). Enter the ending date in the same manner.

After the commas, enter the frequency for which you want the data. Note the following frequency codes:

Daily = D
Weekly = W
Monthly = M
Quarterly = Q
Yearly = Y

After TESTLIST:

Enter your mnemonic. Enter the code exactly as it appeared on the Datastream screen. Surround the mnemonic with quotation marks, followed by a comma outside of the quotation marks. In this case, the mnemonic should appear as follows: "ESGDP…D",

Move the cursor to File at the top of the notepad screen and select Save. Click on Save and then minimize this screen.

 

Return to the main Datastream screen. Press CLEAR so that the original screen appears. The program will NOT run if you do not return to the main screen.

Select Macro at the top of the screen. Select Run Macro and then select download.mac. Click on OK.

If the macro ran properly, a screen of white numbers should flash up on the main Datastream screen and then the original Datastream screen should return. If it did not run properly, an error message will appear. Note the problem and fix the macro.

Open Microsoft Excel and open your file. If your file does not appear, make sure the browser is selected to search for All Files.

Make sure your data is saved to either your floppy disk or on your Unix account.

Again, one will often encounter the same description for an economic indicator with 2 or more codes. The only difference will often be the final letter of the code. Common designators are:

Datastream gets data directly from individual country's statistical offices, central banks, and governmental organizations as well as from other organizations. The following is what the listing looks like:

For countries other than Canada, Euroland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, select "OTHER COUNTRIES A TO M" or "OTHER COUNTRIES N TO Z" depending on the first letter of the country you wish to research. Princeton does not subscribe to the Japan - Premium Service.

The "OTHER COUNTRIES" are the following: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, South Korea, Lativa, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

In addition to getting data from specific countries, Datastream also obtains data from organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the OECD, Eurostat, and WIIW. Forecasts from the Economist Intelligence Unit, OECD, Consensus Economics, and WIIW. Data from outside organizations is always grouped by the provider and not with the individual country, so check all places.