Re: query

[Doug Henwood <dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx>]

Jim Devine wrote:

> does anyone know the specifics of the Bureau of Labor Statistics'
> CPI-U-X1 consumer price index? why is it preferred by mainstream
> macro-econometricians?

It's an experimental revision of the old CPI numbers in accordance
with the change in how housing costs were accounted for starting in
1983. It lowered reported inflation (which has the benefit of raising
real incomes and, if it were applied to the poverty line, would lower
the poverty rate).

The latest back-projected CPI is the CPI-U-RS, which revises all the
old numbers to account for all the wondrous changes in the CPI over
the last couple of years. Details at
<http://www.bls.gov/pdf/cpirsqa.pdf>.

The Census Bureau has a statement on using both in the latest income
report <http://www.census.gov/prod/99pubs/p60-206.pdf>.

Doug