BLS Tries to End Confusion Over CPI Data After Email Stirs Drama
- Agency explains housing inflation item that jumped last month
- Economists say new weighting alone doesn’t explain big move
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday attempted to quell confusion over its latest inflation numbers after an email earlier in the week appeared to explain a puzzling surge in two-week-old figures.
The jump in a category called owners’ equivalent rent — the biggest individual component within the consumer price index — was a key reason behind the unexpected January surge. The BLS on Thursday revealed information normally kept secret: the change in how much weight single-family detached homes were given within OER, compared with multifamily units.