Request for Comment on the Consumer Inflation Measures Produced by Federal Statistical Agencies, 19961-19963 [2019-09106]
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 88 / Tuesday, May 7, 2019 / Notices
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND
BUDGET
Request for Comment on the
Consumer Inflation Measures
Produced by Federal Statistical
Agencies
Executive Office of the
President, Office of Management and
Budget (OMB).
ACTION: Notice of solicitation of
comments.
AGENCY:
The Office of Management
and Budget OMB is seeking comment on
the differences among the various
consumer price indexes produced by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and
the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA),
and in particular how those differences
might influence the estimation of the
Official Poverty Measure (OPM) and
other income measures produced by the
Census Bureau. Based on the comments
received and internal discussions with
experts, OMB will consider the need to
update the specific inflation measure
used to adjust the OPM, as well as the
need for guidance to Federal agencies to
communicate the strengths, weaknesses,
and best practices for selecting and
using the different indexes.
DATES: Comments must be submitted in
writing. To ensure consideration of
comments, they must be received no
later than 45 days from the publication
of this notice. Because of delays in the
receipt of regular mail related to
security screening, respondents are
encouraged to send comments
electronically (see ADDRESSES, below).
ADDRESSES: Comments may be
addressed to: Nancy Potok, Chief
Statistician, Office of Management and
Budget, fax number (202) 395–7245.
Email comments may be sent to
Statistical_Directives@omb.eop.gov,
with the subject ‘‘Directive No. 14’’.
Alternatively, comments may also be
sent via www.regulations.gov—a Federal
E-Government website that allows the
public to find, review, and submit
comments on documents that agencies
have published in the Federal Register
and are open for comment. Simply type
‘‘OMB–2019–0002’’ (in quotes) in the
Comment or Submission search box,
click ‘‘Go’’, and follow the instructions
for submitting comments. Comments
received by the date specified above
will be included as part of the official
record.
Comments submitted in response to
this notice may be made available to the
public. For this reason, please do not
include in your comments information
of a confidential nature, such as
sensitive personal information or
jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
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proprietary information. If you send an
email comment, your email address will
be automatically captured and included
as part of the comment that is placed in
the public docket. Please note that
responses to this public comment
request containing any routine notice
about the confidentiality of the
communication will be treated as public
comments that may be made available to
the public notwithstanding the
inclusion of the routine notice.
Electronic Availability: This notice is
available on the internet on the OMB
website at https://www.whitehouse.gov/
omb/. Federal Register notices are also
available electronically at https://
www.federalregister.gov/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
information about this request for
comments, contact Bob Sivinski, Office
of Management and Budget, 9257 New
Executive Office Building, 725 17th St.
NW, Washington, DC 20006, telephone
(202) 395–1205, or email Statistical_
Directives@omb.eop.gov with the
subject ‘‘More Info: Directive No. 14’’.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the
Budget and Accounting Procedures Act
of 1950 (31 U.S.C. 1104(d)) and the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3504(e)), the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) is
issuing a request for comment on the
differences among the various consumer
price indexes produced by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA).
In its role as coordinator of the
Federal statistical system under the
Paperwork Reduction Act, OMB, among
other responsibilities, is required to
ensure the system’s efficiency and
effectiveness. A key method used by
OMB to achieve this responsibility is
the promulgation, maintenance, and
oversight of Government-wide
principles, policies, standards, and
guidance concerning the development,
presentation, and dissemination of
Federal statistical products. OMB’s
Office of Statistical and Science Policy,
within the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, relies on public
comment and subject matter expertise
across the Federal government to
identify areas where existing OMB
policies or guidance may be out of date,
lacking clarity, or insufficient for
efficient coordination of Federal
statistics.
Accordingly, OMB is seeking public
comment on the strengths, weaknesses,
and best practices for the application of
the following consumer inflation
measures: The Consumer Price Index for
All Urban Consumers (CPI–U), the
Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage
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19961
Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI–W),
the Chained Consumer Price Index for
All Urban Consumers (C–CPI–U), the
Consumer Price Index Research Series
(CPI–U–RS), and the experimental
Consumer Price Index for Urban Elderly
Consumers (CPI–E), all produced by
BLS, and the Personal Consumption
Expenditures Price Index (PCEPI)
produced by BEA.
Measuring Inflation
Inflation is defined as a rise in the
general level of prices (and deflation as
a decline in the general level of prices).
Equivalently, inflation represents a
decline in the purchasing power of
money. As a general matter, adjusting
statistics and other data for inflation
better reflects consumers’ actual
experiences over time. There are many
different ways in which actual indexes
attempt to capture this change in the
level of prices. Specifically, the inflation
measures produced by BLS and BEA
differ in their scope, weighting, and
formulas, consistent with their original
purposes. These measures are
continually evaluated to ensure they are
objective, accurate, relevant, and timely,
thereby maintaining the integrity of
official government statistics.
Uses of Different Inflation Measures
Congress sometimes requires agencies
to use a specific inflation measure for
specific programs. For example, Public
Law 115–97 directs the IRS to adjust
federal income tax brackets for inflation
with the C–CPI–U. In other instances,
Congressional guidance may be absent
or less specific, and agencies exercise
their discretion in choosing an index to
calculate inflation-adjusted statistics. In
cases where Congress has not required
a specific methodology, agencies should
use the measure of inflation most
appropriate for the purpose of the
program.
OMB is seeking comment about how
the relative strengths and weakness of
the measures might affect the estimation
of the OPM and other income measures
produced by the Census Bureau. OMB
will also consider the need for guidance
to Federal agencies on the differences
among the indexes.
BLS Consumer Price Indexes
To produce its inflation measures,
BLS tracks the change in price of a
collection of consumer goods and
services over time. Those items are then
weighted using survey data to represent
the experience of consumers in their
day-to-day living expenses, with each of
the CPI measures reflecting different
item substitution rates, consumer
populations, or other attributes. OMB is
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19962
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 88 / Tuesday, May 7, 2019 / Notices
seeking comment on the following five
indexes produced by BLS.
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The Consumer Price Index for All
Urban Consumers (CPI–U)
The all urban consumer group is
designed to be representative of about
93 percent of the total U.S. population.
It is based on the expenditures of almost
all residents of metropolitan or
micropolitan areas. The population
scope includes professionals, the selfemployed, the unemployed, retired
persons, as well as urban wage earners
and clerical workers. Not included in
the CPI–U are the spending patterns of
people living in rural areas (defined as
outside of any metropolitan or
micropolitan statistical area), those in
farm households, Armed Forces
members and their families, and those
in institutions such as prisons and
mental hospitals.
The CPI–U is used extensively for
official purposes such as: To derive the
official poverty thresholds, to adjust
Treasury inflation-indexed securities, to
deflate nominal values in a variety of
measures, and until recently, to adjust
federal tax brackets.
changes faced by urban consumers. The
C–CPI–U is distinguished from the CPI–
U by the expenditure weights and price
index formulas used to produce
aggregate measures of price change. The
C–CPI–U employs a formula that reflects
the effect of substitution that consumers
make across component item categories,
for example in response to changes in
relative prices. The formula used in the
CPI–U and CPI–W does not capture
consumer spending response to
changing relative prices across the
component item categories.
The C–CPI–U formula uses
expenditure data that is not available
until several months after the reference
month. Because of this, C–CPI–U
estimates produced for the reference
month alongside the CPI–U are
calculated using estimates of the
expenditure data and then revised later
when the actual expenditure data are
available, usually becoming a final
estimate 10 to 12 months after the initial
publication. The C–CPI–U was first
published in 2002.
The Experimental Consumer Price
Index for the Elderly (CPI–E)
The Consumer Price Index for Urban
Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
(CPI–W)
The CPI–W represents the
expenditures of households included in
the CPI–U definition that also meet two
additional requirements: More than onehalf of the household’s income must
come from clerical or wage occupations,
and at least one of the household’s
earners must have been a full-time
worker, that is employed for at least 37
weeks during the previous 12 months.
The CPI–W population represents about
29 percent of the total U.S. population
and 31 percent of the CPI–U population.
The CPI–U and the CPI–W share the
same components (item strata) and
differ only in population coverage and
the weights used to aggregate these
components.
The CPI–W is used to adjust Social
Security benefits and many other
Federal transfer payments. The
percentage of the population within the
CPI–W definition has declined over
time, and the CPI–U, which was first
published in 1978, has become more
widely used. The CPI–W corresponds
closely to the population used in
computing the CPI from its inception
during the World War I era through
1978.
The CPI–E uses the same price
surveys and formulas as the CPI–U and
CPI–W, but uses expenditure weights
for households with a reference person
or spouse aged 62 years or older. As
currently produced, the CPI–E captures
the household budgets of the elderly
population, which differ from the nonelderly population for notable items
such as medical care and shelter.
However, the CPI–E does not capture
that the elderly population might shop
at different places, purchase different
specific products and services, or in
some cases receive specific price
discounts.
The CPI–E is an experimental index
and is not currently used for official
purposes.
The Chained Consumer Price Index for
All Urban Consumers (C–CPI–U)
Both the CPI–U and C–CPI–U are
indexes designed to measure price
In addition to the BLS CPI measures
described above, OMB also seeks
comment on the PCEPI chain type price
index produced by BEA.
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The Consumer Price Index Research
Series Using Current Methods (CPI–U–
RS)
The CPI–U–RS presents an estimate of
the CPI–U from 1978 to present that
incorporates most of the improvements
made over that time span into the entire
series. The CPI–U–RS therefore provides
an estimate of what the CPI–U would
have looked like had current
methodology been in place since 1978.
The Personal Consumption
Expenditures Price Index (PCEPI)
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The PCEPI is a measure of the prices
that people and nonprofit institutions
pay for goods and services. The PCEPI
uses mainly CPI series along with some
Producer Price Index series, also
produced by BLS, as well as price
indexes from other Federal agencies.
The PCEPI differs from the CPI in
weighting, formula, and scope. A
summary of these differences can be
found at the BEA website: https://
www.bea.gov/help/faq/555. The PCEPI
is compiled monthly and quarterly and
both are revised routinely unlike the
official CPI–U and CPI–W series, which
are not revised.
More information on each of these
measures can be found at the BLS
website: https://www.bls.gov/cpi/ and
the BEA website: https://www.bea.gov/
data/personal-consumptionexpenditures-price-index.
The Official Poverty Measure
OMB’s Statistical Policy Directive No.
14 (Directive No.14), issued in May
1978, specifies the use of the Consumer
Price Index (CPI) in the annual
adjustments of poverty thresholds (the
OPM) calculated and published by the
Census Bureau. Specifically, the
directive states:
Annual adjustments in Census series
are based on changes in the average
annual total Consumer Price Index (CPI)
instead of changes in the cost of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Economy
Food Plan.
In practice, the CPI–U has been the
index used for the annual adjustments.
This policy has not been reevaluated
since the introduction of new consumer
inflation measures, such as the C–CPI–
U. OMB is currently reevaluating the
appropriateness of the use of the CPI–
U for annual adjustment in the OPM. To
assist in this reevaluation, OMB
assembled an interagency technical
working group to study an array of
possible price change measures and to
make a recommendation to OMB on
potentially revising the current method
for adjusting the OPM. The comments
received under this Notice will be
reviewed and considered by the
technical working group in developing
their recommendation to OMB.
The OPM, also known as the poverty
threshold, should not be confused with
the poverty guidelines produced
annually by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services. While the
poverty thresholds are used for
calculating official poverty population
statistics, the poverty guidelines are
used for administrative purposes. Most
commonly the poverty thresholds are
used by a number of federal, state, local,
and non-profit programs, such as
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 88 / Tuesday, May 7, 2019 / Notices
Medicaid and the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),
to determine income eligibility. The
guidelines are based on the previous
year’s poverty thresholds, and updated
for inflation using the CPI–U, based on
statutory language in the Community
Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C.
9902(2)). Because of this, changes to the
poverty thresholds, including how they
are updated for inflation over time, may
affect eligibility for programs that use
the poverty guidelines. OMB is not
currently seeking comment on the
poverty guidelines or their application.
More information on the poverty
guidelines can be found at: https://
aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines.
Request for Public Comment
OMB is seeking comment from the
public on: (1) The strengths and
weaknesses of the indexes for different
applications or uses; (2) the strengths
and weaknesses of the use of the CPI–
U to make annual adjustments to the
OPM, as established in OMB’s
Statistical Policy Directive #14, and
discussion of potential alternative
indexes; (3) the strengths and
weaknesses of the different indexes for
making annual adjustments to the
historical income figures produced by
the Census Bureau; (4) the need for and
feasibility of guidance from OMB or
other Federal source explaining the
differences between indexes and best
practices for their use; (5)
recommendations for the use of the
PCEPI and C–CPI–U for the production
of official statistics, considering that
both measures are revised after initial
release.
Nancy Potok,
Chief, Statistical and Science Policy, Office
of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2019–09106 Filed 5–6–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110–01–P
NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE
ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES
Proposed Collection; 60-Day Comment
Request; Generic Clearance for the
Collection of Qualitative Feedback on
Agency Service Delivery
National Endowment for the
Humanities.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY:
Pursuant to the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, the National
Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
will be requesting from the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB)
reinstatement, without change, of NEH’s
Generic Clearance for the Collection of
SUMMARY:
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16:24 May 06, 2019
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Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service
Delivery. This generic clearance will
fast-track the process for NEH to seek
feedback from the public, through
surveys and similar feedback
instruments, regarding NEH services
and programs.
DATES: Please submit comments by July
8, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments to
Michael McDonald, General Counsel,
National Endowment for the
Humanities: 400 Seventh Street SW,
Washington, DC 20506, or gencounsel@
neh.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael McDonald, General Counsel,
National Endowment for the
Humanities: 400 Seventh Street SW,
Washington, DC 20506, or gencounsel@
neh.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Overview of This Information
Collection
Type of Request: Reinstatement,
without change, of a previously
approved information collection for
which approval has expired.
Title: Generic Clearance for the
Collection of Qualitative Feedback on
Agency Service Delivery.
OMB Control Number: 3136–0140.
Abstract: Reinstatement of this
information collection will enable NEH
to obtain qualitative customer and
stakeholder feedback in an efficient,
timely manner, in accordance with the
Administration’s commitment to
improving service delivery. By
qualitative feedback we mean
information that provides useful
insights on perceptions and opinions,
but not statistical surveys that yield
quantitative results that can be
generalized to the population of study.
This feedback will provide NEH with
insights into customer or stakeholder
perceptions, experiences, and
expectations; help NEH quickly identify
actual or potential problems with how
the agency provides services to the
public; or focus attention on areas
where communication, training, or
changes in operations might improve
NEH’s delivery of its products or
services. These collections will allow
for ongoing, collaborative and
actionable communications between
NEH and its customers and
stakeholders. It will also allow feedback
to contribute directly to the
improvement of program management.
NEH will solicit feedback in areas
such as: Timeliness, appropriateness,
accuracy of information, courtesy,
efficiency of service delivery, and
resolution of issues with service
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19963
delivery. NEH will use the responses to
plan and inform its efforts to improve or
maintain the quality of service and
programs offered to the public. If this
information is not collected, NEH will
not have access to vital feedback from
customers and stakeholders about the
agency’s services and programs.
NEH will only submit an information
collection for approval under this
generic clearance if it meets the
following conditions:
• The collections are voluntary;
• The collections are low-burden for
respondents (based on considerations of
total burden hours, total number of
respondents, or burden-hours per
respondent) and are low-cost for both
the respondents and the Federal
Government;
• The collections are noncontroversial and do not raise issues of
concern to other Federal agencies;
• Any collection is targeted to the
solicitation of opinions from
respondents who have experience with
the program or who may have
experience with the program in the near
future;
• Personally identifiable information
(PII) is collected only to the extent
necessary, and is not retained;
• Information gathered is intended to
be used only internally for general
service improvement and program
management purposes and is not
intended for release outside of the
agency (if released, NEH will indicate
the qualitative nature of the
information);
• Information gathered will not be
used for the purpose of substantially
informing influential policy decisions;
and
• Information gathered will yield
qualitative information, and the
collections will not be designed or
expected to yield statistically reliable
results or used as though the results are
generalizable to the population of study.
Feedback collected under this generic
clearance provides useful information,
but will not yield data that can be
generalize to the overall population.
This type of generic clearance for
qualitative information will not be used
for quantitative information collections
that are designed to yield reliably
actionable results, such as monitoring
trends over time or documenting
program performance.
As a general matter, information
collections will not result in any new
system of records containing privacy
information and will not ask questions
of a sensitive nature, such as sexual
behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs,
and other matters that are commonly
considered private.
E:\FR\FM\07MYN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 88 (Tuesday, May 7, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19961-19963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09106]
[[Page 19961]]
=======================================================================
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OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
Request for Comment on the Consumer Inflation Measures Produced
by Federal Statistical Agencies
AGENCY: Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and
Budget (OMB).
ACTION: Notice of solicitation of comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Office of Management and Budget OMB is seeking comment on
the differences among the various consumer price indexes produced by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Bureau of Economic
Analysis (BEA), and in particular how those differences might influence
the estimation of the Official Poverty Measure (OPM) and other income
measures produced by the Census Bureau. Based on the comments received
and internal discussions with experts, OMB will consider the need to
update the specific inflation measure used to adjust the OPM, as well
as the need for guidance to Federal agencies to communicate the
strengths, weaknesses, and best practices for selecting and using the
different indexes.
DATES: Comments must be submitted in writing. To ensure consideration
of comments, they must be received no later than 45 days from the
publication of this notice. Because of delays in the receipt of regular
mail related to security screening, respondents are encouraged to send
comments electronically (see ADDRESSES, below).
ADDRESSES: Comments may be addressed to: Nancy Potok, Chief
Statistician, Office of Management and Budget, fax number (202) 395-
7245. Email comments may be sent to [email protected],
with the subject ``Directive No. 14''. Alternatively, comments may also
be sent via www.regulations.gov--a Federal E-Government website that
allows the public to find, review, and submit comments on documents
that agencies have published in the Federal Register and are open for
comment. Simply type ``OMB-2019-0002'' (in quotes) in the Comment or
Submission search box, click ``Go'', and follow the instructions for
submitting comments. Comments received by the date specified above will
be included as part of the official record.
Comments submitted in response to this notice may be made available
to the public. For this reason, please do not include in your comments
information of a confidential nature, such as sensitive personal
information or proprietary information. If you send an email comment,
your email address will be automatically captured and included as part
of the comment that is placed in the public docket. Please note that
responses to this public comment request containing any routine notice
about the confidentiality of the communication will be treated as
public comments that may be made available to the public
notwithstanding the inclusion of the routine notice.
Electronic Availability: This notice is available on the internet
on the OMB website at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/. Federal Register
notices are also available electronically at https://www.federalregister.gov/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information about this request for
comments, contact Bob Sivinski, Office of Management and Budget, 9257
New Executive Office Building, 725 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20006,
telephone (202) 395-1205, or email [email protected]
with the subject ``More Info: Directive No. 14''.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the Budget and Accounting Procedures
Act of 1950 (31 U.S.C. 1104(d)) and the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3504(e)), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is
issuing a request for comment on the differences among the various
consumer price indexes produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
In its role as coordinator of the Federal statistical system under
the Paperwork Reduction Act, OMB, among other responsibilities, is
required to ensure the system's efficiency and effectiveness. A key
method used by OMB to achieve this responsibility is the promulgation,
maintenance, and oversight of Government-wide principles, policies,
standards, and guidance concerning the development, presentation, and
dissemination of Federal statistical products. OMB's Office of
Statistical and Science Policy, within the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, relies on public comment and subject matter
expertise across the Federal government to identify areas where
existing OMB policies or guidance may be out of date, lacking clarity,
or insufficient for efficient coordination of Federal statistics.
Accordingly, OMB is seeking public comment on the strengths,
weaknesses, and best practices for the application of the following
consumer inflation measures: The Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers (CPI-U), the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and
Clerical Workers (CPI-W), the Chained Consumer Price Index for All
Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U), the Consumer Price Index Research Series
(CPI-U-RS), and the experimental Consumer Price Index for Urban Elderly
Consumers (CPI-E), all produced by BLS, and the Personal Consumption
Expenditures Price Index (PCEPI) produced by BEA.
Measuring Inflation
Inflation is defined as a rise in the general level of prices (and
deflation as a decline in the general level of prices). Equivalently,
inflation represents a decline in the purchasing power of money. As a
general matter, adjusting statistics and other data for inflation
better reflects consumers' actual experiences over time. There are many
different ways in which actual indexes attempt to capture this change
in the level of prices. Specifically, the inflation measures produced
by BLS and BEA differ in their scope, weighting, and formulas,
consistent with their original purposes. These measures are continually
evaluated to ensure they are objective, accurate, relevant, and timely,
thereby maintaining the integrity of official government statistics.
Uses of Different Inflation Measures
Congress sometimes requires agencies to use a specific inflation
measure for specific programs. For example, Public Law 115-97 directs
the IRS to adjust federal income tax brackets for inflation with the C-
CPI-U. In other instances, Congressional guidance may be absent or less
specific, and agencies exercise their discretion in choosing an index
to calculate inflation-adjusted statistics. In cases where Congress has
not required a specific methodology, agencies should use the measure of
inflation most appropriate for the purpose of the program.
OMB is seeking comment about how the relative strengths and
weakness of the measures might affect the estimation of the OPM and
other income measures produced by the Census Bureau. OMB will also
consider the need for guidance to Federal agencies on the differences
among the indexes.
BLS Consumer Price Indexes
To produce its inflation measures, BLS tracks the change in price
of a collection of consumer goods and services over time. Those items
are then weighted using survey data to represent the experience of
consumers in their day-to-day living expenses, with each of the CPI
measures reflecting different item substitution rates, consumer
populations, or other attributes. OMB is
[[Page 19962]]
seeking comment on the following five indexes produced by BLS.
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U)
The all urban consumer group is designed to be representative of
about 93 percent of the total U.S. population. It is based on the
expenditures of almost all residents of metropolitan or micropolitan
areas. The population scope includes professionals, the self-employed,
the unemployed, retired persons, as well as urban wage earners and
clerical workers. Not included in the CPI-U are the spending patterns
of people living in rural areas (defined as outside of any metropolitan
or micropolitan statistical area), those in farm households, Armed
Forces members and their families, and those in institutions such as
prisons and mental hospitals.
The CPI-U is used extensively for official purposes such as: To
derive the official poverty thresholds, to adjust Treasury inflation-
indexed securities, to deflate nominal values in a variety of measures,
and until recently, to adjust federal tax brackets.
The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
(CPI-W)
The CPI-W represents the expenditures of households included in the
CPI-U definition that also meet two additional requirements: More than
one-half of the household's income must come from clerical or wage
occupations, and at least one of the household's earners must have been
a full-time worker, that is employed for at least 37 weeks during the
previous 12 months. The CPI-W population represents about 29 percent of
the total U.S. population and 31 percent of the CPI-U population. The
CPI-U and the CPI-W share the same components (item strata) and differ
only in population coverage and the weights used to aggregate these
components.
The CPI-W is used to adjust Social Security benefits and many other
Federal transfer payments. The percentage of the population within the
CPI-W definition has declined over time, and the CPI-U, which was first
published in 1978, has become more widely used. The CPI-W corresponds
closely to the population used in computing the CPI from its inception
during the World War I era through 1978.
The Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U)
Both the CPI-U and C-CPI-U are indexes designed to measure price
changes faced by urban consumers. The C-CPI-U is distinguished from the
CPI-U by the expenditure weights and price index formulas used to
produce aggregate measures of price change. The C-CPI-U employs a
formula that reflects the effect of substitution that consumers make
across component item categories, for example in response to changes in
relative prices. The formula used in the CPI-U and CPI-W does not
capture consumer spending response to changing relative prices across
the component item categories.
The C-CPI-U formula uses expenditure data that is not available
until several months after the reference month. Because of this, C-CPI-
U estimates produced for the reference month alongside the CPI-U are
calculated using estimates of the expenditure data and then revised
later when the actual expenditure data are available, usually becoming
a final estimate 10 to 12 months after the initial publication. The C-
CPI-U was first published in 2002.
The Experimental Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E)
The CPI-E uses the same price surveys and formulas as the CPI-U and
CPI-W, but uses expenditure weights for households with a reference
person or spouse aged 62 years or older. As currently produced, the
CPI-E captures the household budgets of the elderly population, which
differ from the non-elderly population for notable items such as
medical care and shelter. However, the CPI-E does not capture that the
elderly population might shop at different places, purchase different
specific products and services, or in some cases receive specific price
discounts.
The CPI-E is an experimental index and is not currently used for
official purposes.
The Consumer Price Index Research Series Using Current Methods (CPI-U-
RS)
The CPI-U-RS presents an estimate of the CPI-U from 1978 to present
that incorporates most of the improvements made over that time span
into the entire series. The CPI-U-RS therefore provides an estimate of
what the CPI-U would have looked like had current methodology been in
place since 1978.
The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCEPI)
In addition to the BLS CPI measures described above, OMB also seeks
comment on the PCEPI chain type price index produced by BEA.
The PCEPI is a measure of the prices that people and nonprofit
institutions pay for goods and services. The PCEPI uses mainly CPI
series along with some Producer Price Index series, also produced by
BLS, as well as price indexes from other Federal agencies. The PCEPI
differs from the CPI in weighting, formula, and scope. A summary of
these differences can be found at the BEA website: https://www.bea.gov/help/faq/555. The PCEPI is compiled monthly and quarterly and both are
revised routinely unlike the official CPI-U and CPI-W series, which are
not revised.
More information on each of these measures can be found at the BLS
website: https://www.bls.gov/cpi/ and the BEA website: https://www.bea.gov/data/personal-consumption-expenditures-price-index.
The Official Poverty Measure
OMB's Statistical Policy Directive No. 14 (Directive No.14), issued
in May 1978, specifies the use of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the
annual adjustments of poverty thresholds (the OPM) calculated and
published by the Census Bureau. Specifically, the directive states:
Annual adjustments in Census series are based on changes in the
average annual total Consumer Price Index (CPI) instead of changes in
the cost of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economy Food Plan.
In practice, the CPI-U has been the index used for the annual
adjustments. This policy has not been reevaluated since the
introduction of new consumer inflation measures, such as the C-CPI-U.
OMB is currently reevaluating the appropriateness of the use of the
CPI-U for annual adjustment in the OPM. To assist in this reevaluation,
OMB assembled an interagency technical working group to study an array
of possible price change measures and to make a recommendation to OMB
on potentially revising the current method for adjusting the OPM. The
comments received under this Notice will be reviewed and considered by
the technical working group in developing their recommendation to OMB.
The OPM, also known as the poverty threshold, should not be
confused with the poverty guidelines produced annually by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. While the poverty thresholds
are used for calculating official poverty population statistics, the
poverty guidelines are used for administrative purposes. Most commonly
the poverty thresholds are used by a number of federal, state, local,
and non-profit programs, such as
[[Page 19963]]
Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), to
determine income eligibility. The guidelines are based on the previous
year's poverty thresholds, and updated for inflation using the CPI-U,
based on statutory language in the Community Services Block Grant Act
(42 U.S.C. 9902(2)). Because of this, changes to the poverty
thresholds, including how they are updated for inflation over time, may
affect eligibility for programs that use the poverty guidelines. OMB is
not currently seeking comment on the poverty guidelines or their
application. More information on the poverty guidelines can be found
at: https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines.
Request for Public Comment
OMB is seeking comment from the public on: (1) The strengths and
weaknesses of the indexes for different applications or uses; (2) the
strengths and weaknesses of the use of the CPI-U to make annual
adjustments to the OPM, as established in OMB's Statistical Policy
Directive #14, and discussion of potential alternative indexes; (3) the
strengths and weaknesses of the different indexes for making annual
adjustments to the historical income figures produced by the Census
Bureau; (4) the need for and feasibility of guidance from OMB or other
Federal source explaining the differences between indexes and best
practices for their use; (5) recommendations for the use of the PCEPI
and C-CPI-U for the production of official statistics, considering that
both measures are revised after initial release.
Nancy Potok,
Chief, Statistical and Science Policy, Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2019-09106 Filed 5-6-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3110-01-P
