The table shows the total annual sales of U.S. gasoline in millions of dollars from 2006 to 2017. (On the site https://www.census.gov/retail/index.html#mrts,  find “Monthly Retail Trade Report,” then select “Time Series/Trend Charts” to find the data for total U.S. sales of gasoline.)

a. G raph the data.

b. Based on the graph, describe the time series pattern.

c. For this time series, why is forecasting with a trend model appropriate?

d. E valuate a trend forecasting model using simple linear regression. What is the MAD?

e. What is the predicted annual change of industry sales?

f. Using the trend model, forecast the next 3 years of gasoline sales.

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Year Annual Sales Year Annual Sales 2006 $296,783 2012 $408,833 2007 354889 2013 401500 2008 360036 2014 390098 2009 259980 2015 312808 2010 335528 2016 280241 2011 380405 2017 372429