To
provide statistical data for assisting in the evaluation of consumer,
producer, export and import prices and price changes, and consumer
expenditures.
TYPES
OF ASSISTANCE:
Dissemination of Technical Information. Place Cursor Here for Definition
USES
AND USE RESTRICTIONS:
Provides
for Consumer Price Indexes (CPI) which measure changes in prices
of goods and services consumed by all urban households as well as
urban wage earners and clerical workers. As the basis for most estimates
of changes in the purchasing power of the consumer's dollar, the
CPI is a major economic indicator and has widespread use in escalation
adjustments in both private and public sectors. Provides for Producer
Price Indexes (PPI) which measure average changes in selling prices
received by domestic producers for their output and which are widely
cited within price escalation clauses of long term sales contracts
to protect both parties against inflation. Provides Export and Import
Price Indexes to measure the effect of international trade prices
on U.S. economy. The Consumer Expenditure (CE) Surveys provide periodic
updates to the market basket and the weights used to calculate the
CPI. In addition, the CE supplies information on consumers' spending
and income by characteristics such as income, age, race, family
size, and region.
ELIGIBILITY
REQUIREMENTS:
Applicant
Eligibility: Request for information may be
made by the general public.
Pre-application
Coordination: None. This program is excluded
from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Application
Procedure: Requests for information and assistance
may be made to the nearest regional office of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics listed in Appendix IV of the Catalog.
Award
Procedure: Not applicable.
Deadlines:
None.
Range
of Approval/Disapproval Time: Not applicable.
Appeals:
Not applicable.
Renewals:
Not applicable.
ASSISTANCE
CONSIDERATIONS:
Formula
and Matching Requirements: Not applicable.
Length
and Time Phasing of Assistance: Not applicable.
POST
ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Reports:
Not applicable.
Audits:
Not applicable.
Records:
Not applicable.
FINANCIAL
INFORMATION:
Account
Identification: 16-0200-0-1-505.
Obligations:
(Salaries and Expenses) FY 01 $134,986,561; FY 02 est $148,541,000;
and FY 03 est $165,980,000.
Range
and Average of Financial Assistance: Not applicable.
In fiscal year 2002, the Consumer Price Indexes (CPI), Producer
Price Indexes (PPI), International Price Indexes (IPP), and the
Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) programs continues as will regular
publication of data from these price statistics programs. In fiscal
year 2002, the CPI will complete work on its major revision program.
Effective with the January 2002 CPI, published in February 2002,
the index will be based on a revised set of market basket expenditures.
The new expenditure patterns will be based on expenditure data collected
in the 1999 and 2000 Consumer Expenditure Survey rather than on
the current 1993-1995 CE data. This update marks a change in the
CPI's updating policy. Previously, market basket weights were updated
on a roughly decennial basis. Beginning with the January 2002 update,
the CPI will now update the expenditure patterns on a biennial basis.
During 2002, this program will begin publication of a new superlative
measure of changes in living costs. The new measure will more fully
reflect substitutions consumers make in response to changes in relative
prices. The CPI program will continue to expand samples to support
the broader use of hedonic modeling in quality adjustment and to
support the more timely introduction of new goods and services into
the index. In January 2002, the IPP updated weights in the Export
and Import Price Indexes with 2000 trade values. The IPP is also
looking into the feasibility of weighting the indexes every year.
The program is continuing work on development of international services.
Coverage of the PPI was expanded to include automotive dealers and
gasoline service stations, and data processing services in January
2002, and additional coverage for television broadcasting stations
is planned for July, while some mining and manufacturing industries
will be will be systematically re-sampled. A major quality improvement
initiative continues to reduce new item bias in industries characterized
by the rapid introduction of new products. Finally, a new initiative
to survey the non-residential building construction sector continues.
The CE has expanded its sample by approximately 50 percent in the
urban areas to allow the CPI to reweigh their indices in a more
timely manner. The CE continues to work on a project to move the
interview survey from a paper and pencil instrument to a computer
assisted instrument. An extensive research endeavor is also underway
in CE to improve the expenditure estimates collected from respondents.
Lastly, work on the redesign of the CE computer processing systems
continues.
REGULATIONS,
GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE:
"Consumer
Price Index"; "Producer Price Index"; "Export Price Index"; "Import
Price Index"; "Consumer Expenditure Survey," "Monthly Labor Review";
"BLS Handbook of Methods," BLS Bulletin 2414; "Major Programs of
the Bureau of Labor Statistics"; "Publications of the Bureau of
Labor Statistics."
INFORMATION
CONTACTS:
Regional
or Local Office: Contact the nearest regional
office of the Bureau of Labor Statistics listed in Appendix IV of
the Catalog.
Headquarters
Office: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office
of Prices and Living Conditions, Washington, DC 20212. Telephone:
(202) 606-6960. Contact: Kenneth V. Dalton.
