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US Labor Department Confuses Analysts With Email on CPI Factor
- ‘Super users’ received note before BLS tried to retract
- Jump in rent gauge spurred higher-than-expected inflation
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The US Labor Department’s statistical agency emailed a group of analysts about a key factor behind the jump in January’s consumer price index before trying to take it back, raising questions about the validity of the figures.
A Tuesday email to data “super users,” seen by Bloomberg, suggested a surge in a measure of rental inflation — which had left analysts puzzled — was due to a shift in underlying calculations, rather than just a rise in prices. One recipient said the Bureau of Labor Statistics tried to retract it and told them to disregard its contents.