You are analyzing payments growth trends for a consumer finance product. The series has recurring calendar effects, including tax season spikes, holiday softness, and different month lengths, so raw month over month growth can be misleading.
How would you think about seasonality when analyzing payments growth trends?
Recognizing recurring seasonal patterns in payment volumeChoosing year over year and calendar-adjusted comparisons over naive month over month readsUsing regression or time-series methods to separate trend from seasonalityTesting whether apparent growth remains after seasonal controls