How is big data used in economic analysis?

We apply data analytics and big data to predict shifts in unemployment, commodities prices, inflation, or any of a number of other economic variables.  Creativity, smartness, technology and lots of data have come together to create a product that tracks inflation.

 Large- scale administrative data sets and proprietary private sector data can greatly improve the way we measure, track, and describe economic activity. The big data predictive modeling tools that have emerged in statistics and computer science may prove useful in economics.

Either sets of equations based on simplifications and assumptions for the sake of reducing theory to a system of equations, or an abstract attempt to explain the way some economic phenomena functions are used.

Econometrics is a field of economics based on estimating relationships between economic variables. It uses statistical methods, areas of mathematics such as linear algebra and calculus, and in some areas computer science to empirically test economic theory against real world data.

Usually firms buy a software that lets them collect the data and use the data to build dashboards and reports that visualize their data in gauges, pie charts, graphs, etc.