The operations chief of Goldman Sachs is trying to estimate the number of job applicants that she will receive next year. Recent data is as follows:
Year 1 11,200 Year 5 22,200
Year 2 13,300 Year 6 18,900
Year 3 14,700 Year 7 20,100
Year 4 16,100 Year 8 21,800
a) Develop a 2-year moving average to forecast registrations from year 3 to year 9
b) Estimate demand again for year’s 3 to 9 with a two-year weighted moving average in which registrations in the most recent year is weighted twice as much as the year before.
c) Graph the original data and the two forecasts using Excel. Which forecasting method seems better, and why?