Transforming the values helps us by normalizing the values (i.e., adjusting for inflation) or scaling the data series itself (making it possible to see the relationships between many different indicators on a single graph, despite wide variations in the ranges of values). Each line on the final chart thus corresponds to one or more columns of data used to produce the values. Some colors apply to multiple columns this is because the values that appear on the chart have been calculated by transforming the raw data in some way. Youll notice that the columns are color coded. Download the time series data Excel file for the data and the chart to follow along.įirst, to set up the basic line chart, hold Ctrl (PC) or Cmd (Mac) while you select the following columns: To create this chart, all of the indicators were averaged by year and, where necessary, adjusted for inflation using a conversion factor. business cycle – roughly speaking, economic recessions.
national economic indicators has been enhanced with regions that also indicate contractions in the U.S. Here is an example where a chart of annual U.S.
One option, however, is to add regions to your time series charts to indicate historical periods or visualization binary data. Time series data is easy to display as a line chart, but drawing an interesting story out of the data may be difficult without additional description or clever labeling.
