Full text of Interim Adjustment of Consumers' Price Index: Correction of New Unit Bias in Rent Component of Consumers' Price Index and Relative Importance of Items : Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 1039

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Interim Adjustment of
Consumers’ Price Index




Bulletin No. 1039

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
M
J. T
, Secretary
a u ric e

o b in

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
Ew

an

C l a g u e , C o m m is sio n er




Interim Adjustment o f
Consumers’ Price Index

Correction of New Unit Bias
In Rent Component of
Consumers’ Price Index and
Relative Importance of Items

Bulletin No. 1039
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
M a u r ic e J. T o b i n ,

Secretary

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
E

w a n

Cla

g u e

For sale by the Superintendent o f Documents, U . S . Government Printing O ffice, Washington 25( D ,C .




,

Com m issioner

Price 30 cents

Letter of Transmittal
U nited States D epartment of L abor,
B ureau of L abor Statistics,

Washington, D. C., June 29, 1951.
The Secretary

of

L abor:

I have the honor to transmit herewith a bulletin presenting a detailed descrip­
tion of the Interim Adjustment of the Consumers’ Price Index. This adjustment
was undertaken when economic, military, and legislative developments during the
summer of 1950 made it imperative that the index should be the best possible
measure of current change in prices of goods and services usually purchased by
moderate-income city families.
The interim adjustment of the index and the preparation of materials pre­
sented herein, were carried out in the Division of Prices and Cost of Living.
Much of this information has appeared as special articles in the Monthly Labor
Review which were prepared by George Johnson, Bruno Schiro, Doris P. Rothwell,
and Donald C. Corridon of the Prices and Cost of Living Division. Important
details and records have been added for this bulletin.
E wan C lague, Commissioner.

Hon. M aurice J. T obin,
Secretary of Labor.
n




Preface
The adjusted index is the same as the old one in major respects. It is still
defined as a measure of average price change for goods and services customarily
bought by moderate-income families in large cities. Calculation procedures and
price-collection methods are identical. The important differences are in the
weights used to combine price changes for individual items and groups of items,
and the inclusion of the new unit bias correction. In the old index the weights
reflected quantities bought by wage earner-clerical workers' families whose incomes
averaged $1,524 in 1934-36. In the adjusted index they reflect approximate quan­
tities bought by the same type of families in 1949. Their 1949 income is estimated
at about $3,500.
The Bureau is now concentrating on its full-scale revision of the index, which
may include more basic changes in concepts or definition. The extensive survey
of family expenditures through interviews with 17,000 families which will furnish
the basis for final weight revisions was conducted in 91 separate cities throughout
the country.* Pending completion of the comprehensive revision, the Bureau has
plans to keep abreast of current changes in family spending patterns by means of
a consumer panel of about 1,000 families selected from the 17,000 families and also
through other independent sources. If shortages and rationing cause important
changes in spending patterns, the Bureau plans to make adjustments in weights
where these are necessary to prevent significant error in the United States “ all
items” index. In this way it is hoped that serious maladjustments in weights
can be prevented in the future so that the Bureau's index will continue to be an
accurate measure of current price changes.
♦For details see the Monthly Labor Review, January 1951.




m

Contents
Introduction_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Correction of new unit bias in rent component of Index_________________________________________________________________
Origin of new unit bias________________________________________________________________________________________________
Requirements for making the correction_____________________________________________________________________________
Estimating volume of new rental housing____________________________________________________________________________
Survey area_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sample design_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Classifying units as “ Old” and “ N ew ” _________________________________________________________________________
Estimating rent differentials__________________________________________________________________________________________
Measuring housing quality_______________________________________________________________________________________
Construction of quality cells_____________________________________________________________________________________
Imputing cell differentials________________________________________________________________________________________
Rent differences by cities_________________________________________________________________________________________
Index correction factor___________________________________________________________________________________________
Sampling error of index multiplier_______________________________________________________________________________
Yearly accumulation of new unit bias___________________________________________________________________________
Interim adjustment of Index_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Plans for interim adjustm ent_________________________________________________________________________________________
Revision of population weights_______________________________________________________________________________
Correction of the rent index__________________________________________________________________________________________
Addition of new item s_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Revision of commodity weights_______________________________________________________________________________________
Adjustments of weights in seven cities_______________________________________________________________________________
Estimation of weights for other cities________________________________________________________________________________
General estimating methods__________________________________________________________________________________________
Other estimating methods_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Food subgroups________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fuel, light, and refrigeration__________________________________________________________________________________________
Apparel, housefurnishings, and miscellaneous_______________________________________________________________________
Recalculation of indexes_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Comparison of index series____________________________________________________________________________________________
City indexes____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Food____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Other groups___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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A P P E N D IX E S
Appendix A _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Appendix B _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Appendix C _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Appendix D _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Appendix E _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Relative importance of items in index_______________________________________________________________________________
Value weights— Origin and changes--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Uses of relative importance______________________________________________________________________________________
Appendix F __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Appendix G _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Appendix H _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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IV




CO N TEN TS
T E X T TABLES
P age

Table 1.— Number of blocks and dwelling units sampled in the December 1949-February 1950 surveys____________
Table 2.— Relative proportions of all rented and all owner-occupied dwellings built or created by structural conver­
sion in 1940 or after, December 1949-February 1950_____________________________________________________
Table 3.— Percentage difference between rentals of units coming on the market in 1940 and later, and rentals of
similar older units, as of December 1949-February 1950__________________________________________________
Table 4.— Correction to the rent index and the “ all items” Consumers* Price Index for accumulated new unit bias,
1940 to January 1950________________________________________________________________________________________
Table 5.— Estimated accumulation of the new unit bias for the periods 1940-46 and 19 47 -4 9 _______________________
Table 6.— Comparison of percentage distribution of groups of expenditures by all families of wage earners and
clerical workers and unadjusted index weights as of January 1950_______________________________________
Table 7.— Summary of mean square tests_________________________________________________________________________________

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A P P E N D IX TABLES
Table A - l : Consumers* Price Index for Moderate-Income Families: Adjusted all-items and rent indexes for 34
large cities combined, by year and month, 1 9 4 0 -4 9_____________________________________________________
Table B - l : Consumers* Price Index for Moderate-Income Families: Adjusted all-items and rent indexes, United
States and 34 cities, by year, 1940-49, and by month, 1 9 4 7 -4 9 ________________________________________
Table C - l : Consumers* Price Index for Moderate-Income Families: Adjusted all-items and group indexes, United
States and 34 cities, by month, 19 5 0 -April 1951________________________________________________________
Table D - l : Population weights used for combining city data into composites for the United States_______________
Table E - l : Percentage distribution of index value weights____________________________________________________________
Table E - 2 : Calculation of relative importance of components, January 1950, before adjustment of weights_______
Table E - 3 : Calculation of relative importance of components, February 1951, adjusted series_____________________
Table E - 4 : Calculation of indexes, before and after adjustment of weights, for selected groups____________________
Table E - 5 : List of items included and relative importance of each item in major groups of items and in total index
after adjustment, January 1950___________________________________________________________________________
Table E - 6 : Relative importance of major groups of goods and services in the Consumers’ Price Index after adjust­
ment, by city, January,February, or March 1950________________________________________________________
Table F - l : Percentage distribution of expenditures as of the survey date (1947, 1948, or 1949) and adjusted to
1950, by expenditure group: Wage earners and clerical workers, white families of 2 or more persons._
Table G - l : Summary of mean square tests of deviations of estimated weights from survey weights, 6 cities_______
Table H —1: Grouping of family expenditure data used in obtaining weights for various indexes, by group:
Food Index____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Apparel Index_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fuel, Electricity, and Refrigeration Index___________________________________________________________________________
Housefurnishings Index_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Miscellaneous Index___________________________________________________________________________________________________

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CHARTS
Chart 1.— Consumers* Price Index, all items and rent (adjusted and old series), 1 9 4 0 -4 9 ___________________________
Chart 2.— Consumers’ Price Index, all items (adjusted and old series), January 1 9 5 0 -April 1951__________________
Chart 3.— Consumers’ Price Index, commodity groups (adjusted and old series), January 1 9 5 0 -April 1951-----------




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V




Interim Adjustment of Consumers’
Price Index
Introduction
Economic, militarf, and legislative develop­
ments during the summer of 1950 made necessary
certain interim improvements in the Consumers'
Price Index in advance of the comprehensive
revision scheduled for completion in June 1952.1
No major changes in procedures or weights had
been made since the full scale revision of 1940.
The need for revision in a number of respects
was recognized soon after World War II, and in
1949 Congress authorized a large scale 3-year
program for modernization of the Index. This
program is still in progress.
When this program was begun, it was not
expected to make any important changes in the
Index until the general revision was completed.
This assumed that the period 1950-52 would be
one of relatively stable economic conditions with
moderate and comparatively uniform price move­
ments. This expectation was dispelled suddenly
by the military developments in Korea in June
1A general discussion of the shortcomings of the Index and of the Bureau’s
revision program will be found in “Revision of the Consumers’ Price Index”
in the Monthly Labor Review for July 1950.

1950 and by the steps taken toward economic
mobilization of the United States. Sharp and
diverse price rises for a number of commodities
followed immediately upon the outbreak of hos­
tilities as speculators, and industrial and individ­
ual consumers, with the memory of World War II
scarcities still vivid, rushed to buy goods while they
were still available. These sharp and diverse
price changes magnified the effects of the misweighting of the components of the index.
One phase of the adjustment, namely, cor­
rection of the new unit bias in the rent index, had
been planned and announced in 1949. The first
section of this bulletin describes this correction
to the rent component of the Consumers' Price
Index. Other improvements, such as the intro­
duction of new or substitute items, were compara­
tively minor and routine; but some represent
departures from customary practices. Because
these changes, in the aggregate, are likely to affect
the trend of the index from January 1950 into the
future, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced
them in advance. They are documented in detail
in this bulletin.

Correction of New Unit Bias in Rent Component of Index
The understatement of the rise in rents during
the past decade reflected by the rent component
of the Consumers' Price Index, and by the CPI
itself, has been corrected and is here described.




It arose during the war and postwar years from
the failure to reflect the difference between rents
charged for new dwellings when they first enter
the rental market and those of comparable

1

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

2

dwellings already in the market.2 This difference
is equivalent to a price change which properly
should be reflected in an index of rents and prices.
The 3-year revision program of the CPI,
authorized in the fall of 1949, included compre~
hensive housing studies in each of the 34 city
areas covered in the CPI and made the correction
possible. From surveys conducted early in 1950,
the Bureau of Labor Statistics is now able to
announce that the correction to the rent index
for the accumulated downward bias for 10 years—
from 1940 to 1950— is 5.5 percent of the January
1950 rent index and 0.8 percent of the “ all items”
index for the 34 cities combined. Applying this
correction to the January 1950 index would raise
the rent index by 6.8 index points and the all-items
index by 1.3 index points. The amount of this
correction is somewhat higher than the 1949 rough
estimate which follows, because it takes into
account the very high rate of new rental construc­
tion during 1949 and also because the measurement
was more accurate.
Several rough estimates of the understatement
had previously been made by the Bureau so that
users of the CPI could appraise the extent of this
“ new unit” bias.3 However, they were not
incorporated into the CPI because of the meager
data upon which they were based. In July 1949,
the Bureau made its last rough estimate that, as a
result of this “ downward bias” from 1940 to 1949,
the rent index in February 1949 was too low by
something between 3 % and 5 index points, and
that as a result the all-items index was too low
by something between 0.6 and 0.9 index points.

Origin of New Unit Bias
The procedure used in making the correction
for the “new unit” bias in the rent component
of the CPI was, of course, conditioned by the basic
* References to this problem were made in the following publications:
The Cost of Living Index of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a mimeographed
report, February 25, 1944; The Report of the President's Committee on the
Cost of Living, 1945; a technical note released with the September 1946
Consumers' Price Index; a technical note In the January 1948 Monthly
Labor Review, Residential Rents Under the 1947 Housing and Rent Act;
a technical note appearing quarterly in Construction, beginning with the
March 1948 issue; a technical note in the BLS regular monthly release of
the Consumers' Price Index, beginning in July 1948; The Rent Index: Part
1—Concept and Measurement, and Part 2: Methodology of Measurement,
in Monthly Labor Review, December 1948 and January 1949; and Estimate
of New Unit Bias in CPI Rent Index, Monthly Labor Review, July 1949.
* See the Rent Index: Part 2—Methodology of Measurement, Monthly
Labor Review, January 1949 (pp. 66-67), also reprinted as Serial No. R.
1947; and Estimate of New Unit Bias in CPI Rent Index, Monthly Labor
Review, July 1949, or Serial No. R. 1965.




concept of the Index and can be clarified by a
brief review of how the bias originates.
The CPI measures average changes in retail
prices of a bill of goods and services of constant
quantities and qualities, purchased by moderate
income families. It is designed to show the
influence of price changes only, and to exclude the
effect of changes in the quantities or qualities
purchased. Because of the difficulty of deter­
mining which houses are identical in quality, the
Bureau has measured changes in rents for samples
of identical houses as a means of arriving at the
change in rent for dwellings of identical quality.
If the rent for a unit is not reported at the begin­
ning and the ending months of the period for
which rental change is measured, that unit is
excluded from the tabulation.
Additions to the rental market (created by
new construction or conversion) do not have an
“ earlier” rent when they first come onto the
market, and therefore the procedures for calculat­
ing the index do not reflect the difference in rent
between “new” units and comparable existing
units. Consequently, the price change—between
average rents for dwellings in one period and aver­
age rent for identical qualities of housing, including
new dwellings, in a later period— which properly
should be reflected in the index, is missed.
Normally, in a market free from rent controls
there is no consistent differential in price between
“new” units and comparable existing dwellings.
However, during periods of rent control, those
market forces which tend to equate the rents for
“new” and “old” housing of identical quality are
not permitted to function.
Thus, during the war and postwar years— a
prolonged period of rent control and housing
shortages— additions to the rental market almost
always came on the market at higher rents than
those for comparable dwellings already in exist­
ence.**4*. It is the failure of the index to reflect this
4 Federal rent controls were not in effect until 1942, but additions in 1940
and after were included as "new" units because in many cities rents were
"rolled back" to their levels as of January and April 1941, and in Washington,
D. C., as of January 1940. Furthermore, in many cities in which rents were
frozen as of March 1942, voluntary fair rent commissions had been in opera­
tion earlier with varying degrees of effectiveness. To some extent, therefore,
new units tended to come onto the market at levels higher than comparable
existing dwellings in these earlier years.
New rental units were controlled by the Federal rent regulations as they
came on the market, but due allowance was made for increased construction
costs in setting their controlled rents. As a result the accumulated "new
unit bias" remained relatively small until 1947; beginning in 1947, it increased
sharply because new dwellings created by construction and conversions
were removed from rent control while existing dwellings remained under
control.

CORRECTION OF NEW UNIT BIAS IN RENT COMPONENT

difference which introduced the consistent down­
ward bias that is referred to as the “ new unit
bias” in the rent index.
At the same time, the Bureau has been unable to
bring up to date frequently the sample of tenant
dwellings from which rental data are obtained.
Newly built rented dwellings are drawn into the
samples only when a new sample is drawn. Since
1940, the Bureau has been able to revise its
samples in 1942, in 1944-45, and again in 1950 as a
result of the surveys upon which the Bureau based
the present correction of the new unit bias.

Requirements for Making the Correction
Two kinds of data were required in order to
correct the rent index for each city: (1) The propor­
tion of the total number of rental dwellings which
were additions to the rental housing market over
the 10-year period; and (2) the average relative
difference in rents between these and comparable
existing dwellings. The volume of additions to
the rental market and the relative importance of
these additions to the total rental housing supply
could only be determined by a sample survey of
housing in each city area.6 Although there were
some data on average rents by cities, no source was
available that could supply average rents for
units created prior to 1940 and for units created
in the last 10 years. Here again, to measure rents
by quality classes, a specially designed survey of
housing was required.6

Estimating Volume of New Rental Housing
In order to keep within the strict time schedule
established for the Bureau’s revision program, a
third of the comprehensive housing surveys were
conducted in December 1949, January 1950, and
February 1950, respectively. In order to estimate
the volume of new rental construction in the
8 In its previous estimate of the extent of the “ new unit bias,” the Bureau
relied on building permit data published by its Construction Division.
Several assumptions had to be made inusing these data. First, for individual
cities, no information was available on starts or completions; so it was as­
sumed that the number of dwelling units authorized equalled the number
of dwelling units built. Secondly, it was assumed that all dwelling units in
two-family and multifamily structures were built for rent, and that all single­
family structures were built for sale. No information on conversions was
available for individual cities. See Estimate of New Unit Bias in CPI Rent
Index, Serial No. R. 1965.
* In the earlier estimate of the new unit bias, th e B u r e a u e s tim a te d th e
differentials on the basis of general economic data, with the help of opinion
surveys conducted by the price control agencies. No attempt was made
to estimate differentials separately for each city. See Serial No. R. 1965.
969582—52-----2




3

housing market area of each city, the surveys were
designed to insure adequate representation of all
kinds of blocks in the area to be covered, and at the
same time to cover that area around the city which
represented its housing market.
Survey Area. Boundaries established for the
survey area determine to an important degree the
accuracy of an estimate of the proportion of new
and old dwellings. In large cities particularly, the
proportion of new buildings in the suburbs has
been greater than in the central city. It was
therefore important that the Bureau should survey
the area which included the city’s primary housing
market and yet not cover housing located beyond
the direct competitive influence of housing in the
central city.
The use of the Census standard metropolitan
area as the survey area was rejected because itincluded a territory too large both from the stand­
point of survey cost and housing market uni
formity. The metropolitan area is defined as the
entire county in which the central city is located as
well as adjacent counties which are closely related
economically to the central city. As a result, the
area takes in much rural housing, as well as com­
munities with housing markets comparatively un­
related to that of the central city.
The new Census designation of the urbanized
area, designed to separate urban and rural
population more efficiently in the vicinity of large
cities for the 1950 Census, was found to parallel
closely the primary housing market for most cities.*
7
Accordingly, these urbanized areas were adopted
in establishing the outer limits to be covered by the
dwelling unit surveys in 28 of the 34 cities. In
Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and
San Francisco, the urbanized areas were too exten­
sive to be analyzed economically and were
considered to cover much more than the city’s
primary housing market area. After consultation
with staff members of the Housing and Home
Finance Agency and the Federal Housing Agency,
those portions of the urbanized areas not considered
a part of the primary housing market for the five
7The urbanized area was determined primarily by housing density and
by transportation ties to the central city. The districts outside the city
limits which were defined by the Census as a part of the urbanized area in
1949, included those areas contiguous to the central city with a density of at
least 500 dwelling units per square mile. Also included were noncontiguous
areas with a similar density within 1 H miles of the central contiguous area
by the shortest route. Farther outlying areas within a half mile of the
secondaryurbancore andmeeting the density requirement were alsoincluded.

4

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

cities were dropped. The New York City survey
was confined to the five boroughs.8
Sample Design. To insure an accurate rep­
resentation of all types of housing in the area in the
selection of the sample of blocks, separate treat­
ment was given to blocks that were densely popu­
lated, to blocks occupied largely by a racial minor­
ity, and to blocks and areas where housing develop­
ment was considered to have been likely since 1940.
On the basis of data available from the 1940 Census
Bulletin of Block Statistics, the blocks in each city
were separated into these strata and sampled sepa­
rately. All areas in the city which in 1940 were
geographically large and sparsely developed or en­
tirely undeveloped, and the survey areas beyond
the city limits were investigated by a special field
survey team. This was done in order to identify
areas of new construction and blocks containing
apartment developments. These strata of newly
developed areas (built in 1940 and after) and old
developed areas were then sampled separately to
insure a full representation of blocks containing
new housing.
Densely populated blocks or blocks containing
apartment developments were sampled relatively
more heavily than small blocks or nonapartment
blocks. However, within the large blocks the
dwelling units were sampled at a less intensive
ratio than in the small blocks. The product of the
“ block” ratio and the “ within block” ratio in both
cases equaled the over-all sampling ratio.9
This procedure increased the chances of properly
representing new apartment developments, partic. ularly in those cities containing a relatively small
number of such developments. It also insured a
smaller sampling error on the average rent. The
in-block ratios in both the small and large blocks
8There is some evidence to indicate that had the Bureau surveyed the
Census standard metropolitan area, rather than the smaller Census urbanized
area, the relative importance of all newly created dwellings (both tenant- and
owner-occupied, built in 1940 or later) might have been somewhat higher.
Rough calculations from Census preliminary April 1950 housing counts for
the metropolitan areas showed that for most of the 34 cities this proportion
was higher for the standard metropolitan area than for the urbanized area,
but for only 10 cities was the difference greater than 5 percentage points.
Much of this difference resulted from the considerably larger proportion of
owner-occupied dwellings constructed in the outlying portions of the standard
metropolitan area. These differences would therefore not have been as
great for rental dwellings only, which alone affected the calculation of the
new unit bias correction.
9 For example, in San Francisco, every ninth large or apartment block was
included in the sample, but only every seventeenth unit was sampled within
these blocks; and every fifty-first small block was included in the sample,
but every third dwelling was included in the sample within these small blocks.




were selected so as to yield approximately eight
dwelling units (owned and rented) per block (and
in most cities about four rented units per block).
Analysis of the variability of rents within blocks
and between blocks and the relative costs of
sampling blocks and sampling dwellings within
blocks, showed that, by obtaining approximately
four rental units per block, about the optimum ex­
penditure of the funds available for the survey
would be achieved.
The size of the sample in each city was fixed in
order to achieve two standard errors of $1.40 on
the average rent. Considerably larger samples
were required to achieve the stated degree of accu­
racy in cities with a high variance in rent than in
those with more uniform rents.
The total number of blocks and the total number
of dwelling units included in the sample for each
of the 34 cities are shown in table 1.
T able 1 .— Number of blocks and dwelling units sampled in

the December 1949-February 1950 surveys
Total number
sampled
C ity

A tla n ta ........... .
Baltimore. ___
Birmingham___
Boston................
B uffalo..............
Chicago..............
Cincinnati_____
Cleveland..........
Denver________
Detroit________
H ouston............
Indianapolis___
Jacksonville___
Kansas C ity ___
Los Angeles___
Manchester____
M em phis...........

Total number
sampled
C ity

Blocks

Units

446
1,105
566
793
400
836
434
482
453
785
656
505
448
413
745
393
644

4,300
5,900
4,100
4,500
3,100
5, 500
4,000
3.900
3, 200
5,500
5, 000
4,500
2, 700
3,200
5,900
2,300
4,900

Blocks
M ilw aukee...................
M inneapolis_________
M obile _____________
New Orleans___ _____
New Y o rk .....................
N orfolk________ ______
Philadelphia_________
P itts b u rg h .... ..............
Portland, Maine
_ .
Portland, Oreg
_
R ichm ond_______ ___
St. Louis......... ..............
San Francisco...............
Savannah_____ ______
Scranton............... ........
Seattle...........................
W ashington.......... .......

431
510
639
370
1,302
488
790
748
325
602
466
1,134
474
339
518
745
1,367

Units
2,800
3,700
6.100
3,100
9.800
3.800
5,100
4,300
2,000
3,800
3,200
8,400
3,500
2,700
3, 300
4,700
9,800

Classifying Units as “ Old” and “ N e w ” De­
scriptive information for each dwelling in the
sample was obtained by personal visit of a Bureau
field representative to the dwelling. The repre­
sentatives were instructed to classify each struc­
ture by whether it was built before 1920, between
1920 and 1939, or the exact year if “ new,” i. e.,
built in 1940 and after. If the occupant could
not state the year the structure was built, agents
attempted to get the information from long-time
residents in the block. In addition, each unit in
the sample was classified by whether it was
created when the structure was built, or by sub­
sequent conversion of the structure. This included
structures converted from anonresidential to aresi-

5

CORRECTION OF NE*W UNIT BIAS IN RENT COMPONENT

dential use, as well as units created by internal
structural changes to already existing residential
dwellings. Typical of structural conversions were
the tearing out or building of partitions, doors, or
walls; or the installation of a sink, toilet, bathtub,
or shower. Regardless of when the structure
was originally built, units created by structural
changes in 1940 or after were considered as “ new”
additions to the rental market.
For each of the 34 city areas surveyed, the
proportion of all existing dwellings in 1949-50
which were created in 1940 and after is shown in
table 2. In 24 of the 34 cities, the proportions
built in the last 10 years were greater for owneroccupied dwellings than for rented dwellings, con­
firming other evidences of the substantial shift
to home ownership since 1940. Among the cities
where a higher proportion of rental units were
built since 1939, are localities where substantial
public and private war-housing developments were
initiated; for example, Mobile, Norfolk, Portland,
Or eg., and Washington, D. C.
In general, the greatest proportion of new rented
dwellings were in southern cities; the smallest pro­
portion in the northeastern and mid western cities.
New tenant-occupied dwelling units range from 44
percent of the total rental market in Norfolk to 4
percent in Chicago, St. Louis, and Scranton.

Estimating Rent Differentials
The second step in the computation of the correc­
tion for the new unit bias required the separation
of the sample of tenant-occupied dwelling units
into groups having the same characteristics.
Within each of these groupings—or cells of com­
parable quality— the average rent for the new and
old units could then be compared to determine the
difference in rent for each quality grouping on the
survey date. These group or cell differences were
combined with weights based on the number of
new units in each quality group (quality cell) to
obtain for each city the average differential in rent
between new and old units of comparable quality.
Measuring Housing Quality. Any precise measure
of housing quality would necessitate an expert
individual appraisal of both structure and location
of each old and new house. However, the size of
the Bureau surveys, involving tbe sampling of
153,000 dwellings in 34 areas within a short



T

2 . — Relative proportions of all rented and all owneroccupied dwellings built or created by structural conversion
in 1940 or after, December 1949-February 1950

able

[In percent]

Area

Tenant-occu­
pied

Owner-occu­
pied

New 1

Old2

New1

Atlanta........................... .....................
Baltimore.................... ............... .........
Birmingham____ _______ . _
Boston..... ............. ........................
Buffalo__________ _
Chicago................................... ...............

19
30
18
5
16
4

81
70
82
95
84
96

25

Cincinnati................. .............................
Cleveland......... ....... ..............................
Denver................ . _
Detroit................ ........... ............. . .
Houston_____ _____ ____ ______
Indianapolis............. ...............................
Jacksonville................. ....... ................ ...

7
19
9
33
13
16

8

92
93
81
91
67
87
84

Kansas City.............. ............................
Los Angeles_______________________
Manchester__________ ____________ _
Memphis............. ................... .......... ...
Milwaukee....... .................. .................
Minneapolis_______ _________________
Mobile......... ...........................................
New Orleans_____ __________________
New York City__ _____ ____________
Norfolk________________ _______ _
Philadelphia__________ _______ _____
Pittsburgh.................... ...................... .
Portland, Maine......................... ........ .
Portland, Oreg.........................................
Richmond...............................................
St. Louis.................... ............................
San Francisco.......................................
Savannah............ .......... ................ .......
Scranton...____ ___ ________________
Seattle....................................................
Washington............................................
1 N ot in existence prior to 1940.

18
27

8
20
9
9
42

15

10
44
14

82
73
92
80
91
91
58
85
90
56

86

10
11

90
89
69

17

83
96
80
78
96
71
60

31
4

20
22
4

29
40

Old 2

26

22
6

16
15
15

21

28
31
53

20

35

11

38
15
31
16

20

36

30

11

35
15
16
15
22

28
17
22
31

74
78
75
94
84
85
85
79
72
69
47
80
65
89
62
85
69
84
80
64
70
89
65
85
84
85
78
72

83
78

4

69
96

33

67

30

70

2 In existence prior to 1940.

period, limited the selection of quality character­
istics to those that were susceptible to collection in
mass surveys: namely, to those characteristics
which could be ascertained by field representa­
tives from a visual inspection of the neighborhood
and the structure, and by objective and easily
understood questions to be asked of the occupants
of the dwelling. By collecting simple and ob­
jective data, it was possible to obtain samples of
sufficient size to reduce the sampling error to a
reasonable limit. The data obtained included
descriptions of the dwelling unit, the structure
containing the unit, and the neighborhood.10
The description of the dwelling unit consisted of
such items as the number of rooms and bathroom
and plumbing facilities (ranging from no running
water to two or more private bathrooms). Number
10 It might have been desirable to include among the quality characteristics
such items as dimensions of rooms, window area, size of closet space, degree
of maintenance, and location within structure. However, this would have
required the services of housing experts rather than the part-time enumerators
em ployed. The alternative of accepting tenants’ opinions on the value of
such characteristics would have introduced substantial error.

6

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

of rooms is of primary importance in differentiating
quality levels among living units in similar neigh­
borhoods and structures; the type of bathroom
facilities is highly correlated with over-all housing
quality.11*6 Additional information obtained on the
kind of facilities available in the dwellings con­
sisted of type of cooking fuel, kind of heating
equipment, kind of refrigeration, and utilities and
furniture included in the rent. Quality is gener­
ally indicated in most urban housing by the use of
gas or electricity for cooking and by mechanical
refrigeration. A dwelling having a furnace is
symptomatic of a higher housing quality than a
corresponding dwelling having an old-fashioned
installed heating stove.
Structural characteristics taken into account
included the type of exterior building material and
whether the dwelling was a single-family home,
flat, or apartment. Each dwelling in the sample
was classified as “ dilapidated” or “ not dilapi­
dated.” 12 A dwelling was classified as dilapidated
if it had one major defect, a combination of minor
defects, or inadequate original construction.
The neighborhood where each dwelling unit was
located was described by the presence of such
hazards as a railroad or an inter-city truck route.
The extent of commercial or industrial develop­
ment and the accessibility of play space and
schools were also reported. At the same time, each
enumerator was required to rate the neighborhood
by general appearance (whether it was well kept,
average, run down, very poor) and to enter his
subjective rating of the quality of the
neighborhood.
Because the appearance and over-all quality
ratings were subjective, an effort was made to
clarify and standardize the basis for each possible
rating in the training sessions held in the cities
prior to each survey. During the field work,
supervisors made frequent checks of the inter­
viewers' evaluations of all of the items. Post­
audit showed that the correlations between the
over-all ratings and the objective characteristics
reported were good, indicating that the ratings
on over-all quality were consistent and reasonable
and consequently could be used in the comparisons.
11 As an example of the prevalence in many cities of substandard bathroom
facilities the percentages of rental dwelling units not having a minimum of
one complete private bathroom are given for six cities: Birmingham 64 per­
cent; Savannah 63 percent; Memphis 63 percent; Mobile 44 percent; Atlanta
39 percent; and St. Louis 36 percent.
u According to the definition of dilapidation developed for the 1960 Census
by the Technical Advisory Committee on Housing Statistics.




Construction of Quality Cells. Although the num­
ber of characteristics obtained in the surveys was
limited, the total number of theoretically possible
quality cells was enormous—more than 1.5 million.
Of course, most of them would never occur since
the descriptive characteristics for a dwelling are
highly correlated. For example, a dwelling which
contains two or more complete private bathrooms
never consists of one to three rooms; and an urban
dwelling with one complete private bathroom
usually has modern cooking facilities. Such cor­
relation among housing characteristics indicated
the possibility of eliminating certain of the de­
scriptive items in the construction of the quality
cells. In turn, any reduction in the amount of
descriptive material needed for matching new and
old units accurately would correspondingly reduce
the complexity and cost of the operation.
To test the practicability of simplifying the
comparisons, various levels of progressively more
detailed specifications were used in an experimental
classification of the units into quality cells. If
there was little change in the average differences
in rent between new and old units, regardless of
whether the units were classified by a few charac­
teristics or by many, naturally the smaller number
of characteristics could be used. In this experi­
ment with three cities, however, it became ap­
parent that all of the characteristics were needed.13
Imputing Cell Differentials. The decision to com­
pare units using the most exact descriptions avail­
able created a further problem. In the cities
covered experimentally, it was observed that as the
number of characteristics used in describing the
quality cells was increased, there was a greater
number of quality cells of new units into which
the old units failed to fit.
In dealing with these “ incomplete” cells, several
alternatives were considered. The problem was
finally handled by assigning to each incomplete
cell the differential in rent from that “ complete”
cell nearest to it in quality. When two or more
complete cells were equally near in quality, that
cell having the nearest average rent (based only
18Although 11 main descriptive characteristics are mentioned, each was
subdivided to provide further detail. As an example, 10 combinations of
plumbing and bathroom facilities were possible, 2 descriptive items for cook­
ing equipment, 2 for refrigeration, 3 descriptive items for heating equipment,
6 kinds of exterior building material, etc., to describe a dwelling unit. In
the final comparison, 48 descriptive characteristics were available to describe
the dwelling units, providing a theoretical maximum of 1.6 million quality
cells, or combinations of characteristics, to describe the housing in a given city.

7

CORRECTION OF NEW UNIT BIAS IN RENT COMPONENT

on its new units) was assigned to that of the in­
complete cell. This imputation procedure was
required for each of the 34 cities. It raised the
differentials for 15 cities, lowered them for 18
cities, and made no change in 1 city. Typical
comparisons between the differences computed
from complete cells only, and differences computed
from complete cells plus imputed incomplete cells
follow for five cities:
Differentials based on—
Complete cells
Complete
and imputed
cells
incomplete cells
[Old units** 100]

A tlan ta_____________ ____
Buffalo ______________ ____
Chicago_____ _______ ____
Kansas C ity ________ ____
Milwaukee__________ ____

158
152
131
156
143

166
150
137
152
142

A further refinement of the procedure was
necessary to avoid possible bias resulting from
over-representing any single cell, i. e., assigning
its rent differential to a disproportionate number
of incomplete cells. If one cell difference was
imputed to many incomplete cells the total of
which contained 10 percent or more of the total
number of new units in the sample, the average
differential of the three complete cells nearest in
quality was substituted to provide a more
dependable imputation.
Rent Differences by Cities. The final average
difference in rent between new and old rental
dwellings of comparable quality obtained for each
of the 34 areas is given in table 3.
T ab le 3. — Percentage difference between rentals o f units
coming on the market in 1940 and later, and rentals of
similar older units , as of December 1949-February 1950
[Old units** 100]

City

Percent
new unit
rentals
are of
comparable
old unit
rentals

Atlanta..... ...................
Baltimore___________
Birmingham_________
Boston........... . .. ...
Buffalo......................
Chicago___
___
Cincinnati.
___
Cleveland___________
Denver_____________
Detroit. ........
.....
Houston____________
Indianapolis_________
Jacksonville ________
Kansas City_________
Los Angeles_________
Manchester_________
Memphis.....................




166
140
152
166
150
137
153
199
205
149
137

122

115
152
143
176
163

City

Milwaukee.............. ......
Minneapolis__________
Mobile........... ...............
New Orleans_____ ____
New York_____ ______
Norfolk______________
Philadelphia..................
Pittsburgh___________
Portland, Maine______
Portland, Oreg..............
Richmond............. .......
St. Louis_____ _______
San Francisco................
Savannah_____ _____
Scranton______ ______
Seattle__________
Washington____ _ _ __

Percent
new unit
rentals
are of
comparable
old unit
rentals
142
126
114
199
145
138
118
104
107

121
185
156
124
181
114
150
123

There is some indication of a regional pattern,
with southern cities as a whole showing a greater
difference than northern cities. Outstanding ex­
ceptions to the pattern in the South are Jackson­
ville, Mobile, and Houston. In these cities,
either public war housing was substantial or
rents were decontrolled.
Index Correction Factor. The relative volume of
new rental housing in relation to total rental
housing (table 2) and the percentage rent differ­
ences of new units over old units (table 3) were
combined for each city to estimate the amount
of the new unit bias and to obtain a correction
factor which can be applied directly to the rent
component of the CPI for each city. The actual
procedure is illustrated by the calculation of the
correction factor for Buffalo (rounded figures
used for illustrative purposes):
Percent

Rental units built or converted 1940 or after_________
Rental units built before 1940__________________________

16
84

T o ta l_________________ ______ _____________________ 100
Rent difference for new units (relative to old units)1. _ 150
Rent difference for old units 2__________________________ 100
J As estimated.
* B y definition.

Computation of the rent index correction factor:
Percent
of total
units

New units_______________________
Old units_________________________

16X150
8 4 X 100

Relative
rent
difference

=
=

100

2 4 .0 0
84. 00
1 0 8 .0 0

Thus, the correction factor for the rent index is
+8.0 percent.
This correction factor can then be applied
directly to the rent index for Buffalo to obtain
the adjusted rent index as follows:
Rent index

126 X

Correction factor

8%

Index points to be added

=

10

The correction factor to be applied to the “ all
items” index in each city was the product of the
rent-index correction factor and the relative
importance of rent to “ all items.”
The correction factors for the combined 34-city
indexes were obtained by weighting the correction
factors for each city according to the proportion of
population in that city compared with total
population of all 34 cities.

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

8

Correction factors for each city and the effect
of the correction factors on the January 1950 rent
and all-items indexes by index points to be added
are shown in table 4.

5.5

6.8

0.8

Atlanta................. .
Baltimore................
Birmingham............
Boston.....................
Buffalo................... .
Chicago............. ......

Nov.
Dec.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.

1949
1949
1950
1950
1950
1950

12.3
12.0

15.5
14.3
13.7
4.2
9.7
2.3

1.4

Cincinnati...............
Cleveland................
Denver................... .
Detroit.....................
Houston............. .
Indianapolis.............
Jacksonville_______

Jan.
Nov.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Dec.

1950
1949
1950
1950
1950
1950
1949

4.4
7.1
19.7
4.5

5.2
9.1
24.8
5.9
17.2
3.8
3.3

2.6
.7
1.6

4.3

It is possible to estimate the error in the index
multiplier caused by sampling variability. Strictly,
the index multiplier is determined by the propor­
tion of new rental units to all existing rental
units multiplied by the difference in rent for new
units, plus the proportion of old rental units to
all existing rental units multiplied by the differ­
ence in rent for old units. The difference for old
units is always zero by definition and therefore
cannot contribute any error to the index multi­
plier. Since the old units are proportionately
more important than the new units (in 23 cities,
old rental units comprised more than four-fifths
of all the rental dwellings) and since there is no
error contributed by the difference for old units,
it was possible to calculate the index multiplier
without resort to extremely large (and costly)
samples.
Thus, the index multiplier is subject to only
two types of sampling error: (1) the sampling
error of the proportion of new rental units to all

.5

T able 5.— Estimated accumulation o f the new unit bias for

Kansas City...... ......
Los Angeles........ .
Manchester.............
Memphis......... .......
Milwaukee..............
Minneapolis............
Mobile.....................

Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Dec.
Nov.
Dec.
Dec.

1950
1950
1950
1949
1949
1949
1949

9.3
11.7
5.9

11.8

1.2

12.8

1.9
2.5
.9
2.7
.9

New Orleans........
New York......... ......
Norfolk.................
Philadelphia---------Pittsburgh________
Portland, Maine___
Portland, Oreg........

Nov.
Jan.
Nov.
Jan.
Jan.
Dec.
Jan.

1949
1950
1949
1950
1950
1949
1950

14.5
4.6
17.1
2.5
.4
.7
6.4

16.7
5.0
19.9
3.0
.4

Richmond.......... .
St. Louis_________
San Francisco.........
Savannah_________
Scranton__________
Seattle----------------Washington_______

Jan.
Dec.
Dec.
Jan.
Nov.
Nov.
Nov.

1950
1949
1949
1950
1949
1949
1949

14.7
2.5
4.6
17.6

17.0
3.0
5.4
20.9
.7
18.4
9.7

T able 4.— Correction to the rent index and the uall items”

Consumers1 Price Index for accumulated new unit biast
1940 to January 1950
Effect, for month indicated, on—

City

Month

Rent index
“ Old series”
Percent­
age
adjust­
ment 1

34 cities combined. _ Jan. 19502

9.6
3.6
7.8
1.7

12.2
2.8
2.3

3.9
2.3

6.1

.6

14.7
9.1

“All items” index
“ Old series”

Index
points
to be
added

14.8
6.9
16.8
5.1
3.2
7.8

.8

8.3

Percent­
age
adjust­
ment 1

1.6
1.3
.6
1.1
.3

.5
.9

.4
•3

1.5
.5

1.6
.5
.4

.6
1.6
.7
1.8
.3
.1
.1
.6

Index
points
to be
added
1.3
2.7

2.1
.9
1.8
.5

.8
1.6
1.2
2.7
.6

.6
1.0

.1
.1
1.1
2.8

.5
.9
3.2

1.7
1.4

2.9
2.3

.1

computed from the revised and old indexes for a city.
2Based on the October 1950 “old series” index the percentage adjustment
in the rent index would be 5.7 percent or 7.1 index points, and for the “all
items” index the percentage adjustment would be 0.7 percent or 1.3 index
points. These percentages were reported with the October 1950 Consumers’
Price Index release.

Sampling Error of Index M ultiplier. As indicated,
the index multiplier for each city’s rent index is
determined by the relative importance of new
rental housing to all existing rental housing, and
of the average difference in rent between new units
and comparable old units. Since both of these
figures were obtained from a survey of a sample
of dwellings in each city area, the survey results
may differ from those which would have been
obtained from a complete enumeration of all
dwellings in each city area.

Percentage adjust­
ment 1947-49 i

City
Rent
index

1.1

3.1
.5

1 Small rounding differences may occur when the figures in this column are




Percentage adjust­
ment 1940-46 1

2.7

1.7
.3
.5
1.9

.1

the periods 1940-46 and 1947-49

34 cities combined.......................

1.4

Atlanta..... ............... ....... ..........
Baltimore...... ....... ..................
Birmingham............................. .
Boston............................... .......
Buffalo........................................
Chicago.......................................

1.9
3.4
1.7
.7
2.5
.5

Cincinnati...................................
Cleveland...... .............................
Denver............................... .......
Detroit.......................................
Houston..-....... ..........................
Indianapolis...............................
Jacksonville............................. .

.7
2.5
3.0

Kansas City..............................
Los Angeles................. .......... .
Manchester
..... .....................
Memphis.................................. .
Milwaukee ................................
Minneapolis...............................
Mobile.......................................

1.4

New Orleans___ _____________
New York___________________
Norfolk........ ..............................
Philadelphia____________ _____
Pittsburgh____________ ______
Portland, Maine______________
Portland, Oreg........... ........ ......

4.0
.7

Richmond__________________
St. Louis____ ________________
San Francisco________________
Savannah____ ______________ _
Scranton................ ......................
Seattle_______ _______ ______
Washington........................ .......

All items
index

0.2
.2
.4
.4

.1
.3
.1
.1
.3
.4
.3
.3

2.1

2.3
.9

.1
.1
.2
.2
.1
.3
.1
.1

1.0
2.1
1.3
2.2
.7
.7
4.0

10.6
.7
.1
.4
3.4

2.1
.8
2.6
8.8
.1
6.7
3.2

.4

.4

.1
1.1
.1
(2)
.1

All items
index

0.6
1.2
1.2
1.1
.5
.8
.2

4.0

10.2
8.3
7.8
2.9
5.2
1.4

.4

3.7
4.5
16.2
2.4
9.7
1.9
1.3

.6
2.2
.4
1.3
.3

.2
1.0

7.8
9.4
4.5
10.4
3.2

1.3
.4
1.3
.4
.3

1.6
2.0
10.1
3.9
5.9

1.8

.3

.3
.3
2.9

.2
.1

12.3
1.7

.7
.5

.5
7.5
5.7

.3
.9

(2)

Rent
index

2.0
8.1

(2)

.2
1.2
.6
.7
.2
.1
.3

1.5

.2
.2
1.0
.1
1.0
.9

1When the adjustments for the 2 periods are multiplied together (after
adding 100.0 to each figure) the total adjustment in table 4 can be obtained.
2Less than 0.05 percent.

9

CORRECTION OF NEW UNIT BIAS IN RENT COMPONENT

rental units, as well as the proportion of new
rental units in each quality cell to all new rental
units; and (2) the sampling error in the rent
difference for new units within each quality cell
containing new units.
Because of the lengthy and costly tabulations
involved, the calculation of the sampling error of
the index multiplier was limited to six cities. The
cities selected include those with small and large
correction factors, as well as some of the most
heavily populated cities:
R en t index
Correction
factor

Chicago-----------Boston_________
New York_____
Washington____
Los Angeles____
H ouston_______

1 .7
3 .6
4 .6
9. 2
1 1 .7
1 2 .2

M a xim u m
difference
66 tim es
out o f 100

± 0 .5
± .5
± .5
±1. 3
±1.6
±1.6

A ll items
Correction
factor

0 .3
.6
.7
1 .4
1. 5
1. 6

M axim u m
difference
66 times
out o f 100

± 0 .1
± .1
± .1
± .2
±.2
±.2

Figures for the six cities show a strong tendency
for the size of the error to correlate with the size
of the correction factor. On the basis of this
correlation the sampling error for the 34 large
cities combined can be estimated. The chances
are 19 in 20 that the 5.5 percent correction factor
for the 34 large city rent index in January 1950 is
within the range of 5.1 to 5.9 percent; and the
chances are 19 in 20 that the 0.8 percent correction
factor for the 34 large city “ all items” index in
January 1950 is within the range of 0.7 to 0.9
percent.
Yearly Accumulation of New Unit Bias. Most of
the understatement in the rent index accumulated
during the period from 1947 through 1949. The
indexes have now been revised for 1940-49, despite
the lack of precise information on the difference
in rent between the new units and the old units of

Chart 1.— Consumers’ Price Index, A l l Items and Rent (Adjusted and O ld Series), 1940-49
INDEX

INDEX

I80

170

160

150

I40

130

I20

no

io o

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS




10

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

comparable quality at the time the new units
entered the market. The present correction was
necessarily based on the difference in rent (be­
tween new and old units) existing at the time the
comprehensive housing surveys were made. By
utilizing the research work involved in making the
Bureau’s earlier estimate of the new unit bias,14
it is possible to estimate the yearly fluctuations
in the differentials. Using these estimates in
conjunction with the known volume of new
construction by year, the indexes were adjusted
over the 10-year period. Table 5 shows the
distribution of the correction before 1947, and
for the years 1947 and after. Appendix A shows
h See Estimate of New Unit Bias in CPI Rent Index, Monthly Labor
Review, July 1949 (p. 44).

the revised indexes by month for the 34 cities
combined from 1940 to 1949. (See chart 1). The
corrections for most of the cities in the early
years were too small to affect the over-all index.
The revised “ all items” and rent indexes by year
from 1940 to 1949 and by month from 1947 to 1949
for individual cities appear in appendix B, p. 23.
It must be emphasized that the revised indexes
from 1940 to 1949 are subject to error but give
the approximate magnitude of the correction in
each year. Greater accuracy is obtained by
using these revised indexes for the years 1940-49,
than would be possible by comparing the old
series indexes with the adjusted series for 1950
and after.

Interim Adjustment of Index

The Interim Adjustment of the Consumers’
Price Index came about as a result of inflationary
aspects of the economy following the outbreak
of hostilities in Korea in June 1950. Working
quickly, Congress, on September 8, 1950, passed
the Defense Production Act giving the President
broad authority designed to curb inflation, stabilize
the economy, and increase production for defense.
The terms of the Act dealing with wage and price
stabilization pointed up the necessity for making
the interim adjustment of the index. The Act
established the period from May 25, 1950, to
June 24, 1950, as a reference point to which con­
sideration was to be given in determining price
and wage stabilization. The Bureau’s indexes
and price records, as in World War II, were
expected to play an important role in such deter­
minations. It was particularly urgent, therefore,
that the Bureau calculate its indexes so as to give
the best possible measure of price changes from
month to month beginning from a period before
the outbreak of hostilities in Korea.
With these considerations in mind, the Bureau
during the summer and fall consulted its advisory
committees— the Technical Advisory Committee
of the American Statistical Association, the Busi­
ness Research Advisory Committee, the Labor
Research Advisory Committee and the Budget
Bureau Interagency Committee on Price Statistics.
Public announcement of the Bureau’s plans was
made simultaneously with the issuance of the
September 1950 index in October. The announce­
ment explained that indexes already published



would be revised back to an early month of 1950,
to provide a pre-Korean comparison. This was
a departure from the usual practice of publishing
the Consumers’ Price Index as final at the time
of issuance.
This decision had important implications for
users, particularly for those employers, unions, and
agencies of government which use the index in
adjusting wages. To provide a means for equi­
table adjustment of such contracts, the Bureau
made arrangements for parallel calculation of
indexes on the old and adjusted bases for an over­
lapping period extending at least through 1951.

Plans for Interim Adjustment
Three major considerations underlie the general
planning of the interim adjustment, which should
be considered an improvement of the 34-city index
as previously constructed and defined: (1) not to make
adjustments of basic concepts or methodology
prior to the comprehensive revision, (2) to make
the adjustments quickly, and (3) to make only
such changes as would result in demonstrable
improvements.
The first consideration precluded departure from
the basic definition of the index as a measure of
price change. This also meant no change in the
characteristics of the population covered or the
city coverage; or in basic formula or procedures,
price collection methods and pricing cycle; or in
the general plan for allocation of weights of un­
priced items to priced items. The second con­

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF INDEX

sideration dictated concentration on correction of
major shortcomings in the index and those for
which adequate data were available as a basis for
adjustment. The third consideration underlay
the choice of data, methodology, and statistical
tests.
The scope of the adjustment embraced four
major parts:
1. Revision of city population weights.
2. Correction of new unit bias in rent index
3. Addition of new items.
4. Revision of commodity weights.

Revision of Population Weights
Publication of the 1950 decennial census popu­
lation data by city and county made possible the
calculation of revised population weights for com­
bining 34-city data into a national index for all
items, and 56-citv data into a national food index.
Previous city weights in the index were based on
Bureau of the Census estimated population counts
for 1942 derived from May 1942 registrations for
sugar rationing.15 In the index weights, each city
bears a weight based on its own population and
that of other metropolitan areas in the same
region.
In calculating revised 1950 weights, the popula­
tion of standard “ metropolitan areas” as defined
by the Census was used. The metropolitan area,
or entire county in which the central city is
located, as well as adjacent counties which are
closely related to it economically, has replaced
“ metropolitan districts” as used in 1940.16 Essen­
tially the same combination of nearby cities with
index cities was maintained in calculating the
city weights. A tabulation of the 1942 and 1950
population weights is presented in appendix D, p. 33.

Correction of the Rent Index
As part of the interim adjustment of the Con­
sumers’ Price Index, the corrections to the rent
index and the “ all items” index for the “ new unit
bias” have been incorporated into the index num­
bers from 1940 to date. The nature of this cor­
rection is described in detailin this bulletin, pp.1-10.
The amount of the rent corrections, as appli­
cable to the October 1950 indexes, was carried as
15See Bureau of Labor Statistics Cost of laving Index in Wartime, Monthly
Labor Review, July 1943; reprinted as Serial No. R. 1545.
16 See 1950 Census of Population, Preliminary Counts. Series PC-3, No. 3.
969582—52-----3




11

a footnote to all index releases from October
through December 1950. The ultimate incor­
poration of this rent correction into the index had
the effect of raising the national rent index by
January 1950 by 6.8 index points, and the national
“ all items” index by January 1950 by 1.3 index
points.

Addition of New Items
No general review of the sample of items priced
for the index was feasible for the interim adjust­
ment. However, a few items which had greatly
increased in importance in family spending since
the mid-thirties were added. A few additional
items were included to improve the measurement
of average price movements for groups or sub­
groups of similar items. Frozen peas, strawberries,
and orange juice concentrate, canned baby food,
group hospitalization payments, home permanent
wave refills, television sets, and beer were added
because of their increased importance; layer cake,
frankfurters, ice cream, cola drinks, grape jelly,
men’s rayon suits, men’s work gloves, women’s
rayon blouses, boys’ jeans, cotton rugs, chrome
dinette sets, electric toasters, aluminum pans,
velocipedes, and gas for space heating were added
to improve the measurement of price change.
These items were introduced into the index cal­
culations at the first period for which reliable prices
were available. For the January 1951 index,
prices were available in most cities for all new
items except beer.
Most of these items had already been priced in
some cities as part of the Bureau’s experimental
pricing project, which is a major part of the com­
prehensive index revision program. On the basis
of this information prices of some new items were
estimated for each city back to January 1950.
Where prices were lacking, the weights of the
items were distributed proportionately to priced
items within the group until actual prices became
available.

Revision of Commodity Weights
The unrepresentativeness of current index value
weights as related to current spending patterns
was the most compelling reason for making the
interim adjustment. Table 6 indicates the extent

12

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

index value aggregate for each city was redis­
tributed percentage-wise according to the esti­
mated current spending patterns.
Throughout the rest of this section the term
“ weights” will refer to the percentage distribution
of value weights in a current period and not to
physical quantity weights. The term “ current
index weight” will refer to the weights in the
January 1950 index before adjustment.
An explanation of the meaning of relative im­
portance, or percentage distribution of value
weights, is included in appendix E, p. 34, together
with a complete tabulation of revised relative
importances for groups and individual items in
the national index for January 1950.
The adjustment of weights for the 7 cities for
which recent actual expenditure data are available
will be discussed separately from those where they
are not.

of the weight dislocation in the January 1950
index.
To understand why the weight structure of the
index became unrepresentative, the reader should
review the mechanics of the index calculation.17
Since food prices have increased more than other
groups, the value weight of food in the national
index has increased as a percent of the total value
of the market basket— from 35 percent in 1934-36
to more than 40 percent before the adjustment.
Only if people had continued to buy the same
quantities of all goods and services, would foods
actually represent 40 percent of family expendi­
tures. The Bureau’s postwar studies indicate,
on the contrary, that foods continue to take about
one-third of the consumer’s dollar. This shows
that consumers have adjusted their spending
patterns to increased income and higher prices by
purchasing different things in different quantities.
The index procedure necessarily holds quantity
weights constant from month to month. It can­
not take continuous account of changes in spending
patterns. That is why, periodically, the Bureau
must conduct new family expenditure surveys and
adjust weights accordingly.
Since actual data had to be estimated for some
cities, the interim adjustment of weights served
only to bring the index weight diagrams closer to
current patterns of family spending. Data neces­
sary to adjust the “ all items value aggregate” in
the index to actual total expenditures in each city
were not available. Therefore, the total current

Adjustments of Weights in Seven Cities

17 See Construction of Consumers’ Price Index, Monthly Labor Review,
September 1949.

Basic data for adjustment of weights were
obtained from special tabulations of the survey
results for each of seven cities recently surveyed.
Average dollar and percentage expenditures for
major groups of commodities were calculated
for white and Negro families of wage earners and
clerical workers. Since it was desired that index
weights be adjusted to the most recent period
possible, the survey data which referred to dif­
ferent time periods— 1947, 1948, or 1949—were
adjusted by estimated changes both in quantity
consumption and in price to a common date,

T a b l e 6.— Comparison of percentage distribution of groups of expenditures by all families of wage earners and clerical workers

and unadjusted index weights as of January 1950
Denver
Commodity group

Food...................................................................___
Apparel..................................................................
Housing......................................... .................. .
Fuel, light, and refrigeration...... ........................
Household operation.... ......... ....... ....... ................
Housefurnishings.. ________ ______________
Automobile transportation....................................
Other transportation. ........................... ....... .........
Personal care_______ ______________ __________
Medical care...........................................................
Recreation and reading................... .......................
Tobacco and alcoholic beverages........... ................
Total........ ....................................................

Detroit

Manchester

Memphis

Richmond

Washington

Unad­ Ad­ Unad­ Ad­ Unad­ Ad­ Unad­ Ad­ Unad­ Ad­ Unad­ Ad­ Unad­ Ad­
justed justed justed justed 1 justed justed1 justed justed justed justed1 justed justed1 justed justed1
41.6
11.9
13.2
4.6
3.7
4.7
7.1
1.3
3.2
4.3
2.5
1.9

29.3

37.8

31.2

36.7

30.1

44.2

30.4

38.7

30.2

37.9

32.8

35.7

30.0

12.2 12.2 12.2 12.7 13.6 13.3 15.8 13.5 13.8 13.7 14.0 15.7 13.7
12.1 15.3 11.1 13.3 11.1 9.1 10.2 12.6 10.9 11.6 10.9 15.4 13.5
3.6
6.0 4.2 3.1 2.0 9.1 6.5 6.8 2.8 7.7 5.4 4.6
3.3
4.2
2.4
3.6
4.7
5.3
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.9
3.0
4.7
6.0 4.9
5.1
6.9
6.8 7.4 7.8 6.0 7.2 6.8 9.0 5.8 5.6 5.6
4.8
12.5
8.1 11.5 10.1 9.9 4.8 7.0 6.1 10.0 5.6 6.5 5.7
9.2
2.3
2.0 2.3 1.3 2.0
3.5
.8
2.3
1.6 1.9 2.0 2.5 2.4
2.5
2.1 2.7 2.6 2.0 2.3 2.1 2.3 2.1 2.3 2.7
2.4
3.0
5.9
3.3
5.4
4.4
3.5
6.3
5.3
3.8
4.5
6.3
3.6
3.0
5.6
4.7
2.8 5.9 2.5 6.1 2.4 5.2 2.4 5.4 2.5 5.0 2.4
5.9
3.8
2.0 3.7 1.7 3.2 2.3 4.2 1.6 3.6 2.0 2.7 1.3
3.5
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

1 Weighted b y Negro-white population weights from dwelling unit survey.




Houston

13

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF INDEX

approximately January 1950. The 12 commodity
groups for which expenditure data were summar­
ized and adjusted, corresponded to the present
index groups (and subgroups of miscellaneous
goods and services): Food; Clothing; Housing;
Fuel, light, and refrigeration; Furnishings and
equipment; Household operation; Auto purchase
and operation; Other transportation; Personal
care; Medical care; Reading and recreation;
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco.
Quantity adjustments to survey results were
made to 1949 by item— the latest year for which
information was available— on the basis of data
from independent sources. Department of Com­
merce national estimates of personal consumption
expenditures, retail sales data of the Department
of Commerce and Federal Reserve Banks, In­
ternal Revenue tax collection data, annual food
consumption data of the Department of Agri­
culture, automobile registrations, and similar
data from other sources were used. In some
cases, city data were available; in others, national
figures were used. If for any given item or group
of items, reliable information on consumption
was not available, no quantity adjustment to the
survey data was made. Adjustments for price
change to 1950, were based on the Bureau's
regularly collected retail price data.
After adjustments of the survey data were
made, white and Negro expenditures were weighted
together for each city to obtain adjusted index
weights. The distribution of the total population
by race was determined from a count of occupied
dwelling units with kitchen facilities, obtained in
the Bureau's dwelling unit surveys of late 1949
and early 1950.
The general validity of the adjustment is cor­
roborated by comparison with Department of
Commerce annual national estimates of personal
consumption expenditures adjusted for compara­
bility with the Bureau's definition of family
expenditures. The adjustments did not materially
change the percentage distribution of expenditures
from the survey data.
The percentage distribution of groups of ex­
penditures shown below are for Detroit as of the
survey date, 1948, and as adjusted to 1950.
The data are for white wage-earner and clericalworker families of two or more persons.




1U B

Food_____________________________________
Apparel__________________________________
Housing--------------------------------------------------Fuel, light, and refrigeration___________
Household operation___________________
Housefurnishings_______________________
Automobile transportation_____________
Other transportation___________________
Personal care____________________________
Medical care____________________________
Reading and recreation________________
Tobacco and alcoholic beverages______
T o ta l_____________________________

3 2 .3
1 2 .8
1 0 .7
4. 0
3. 4
6. 7
11. 2
2. 0
2. 1
5. 2
5. 8
3. 8
100. 0

1950

3 2 .5
11. 5
10. 6
4. 1
3. 5
6 .6
11. 9
2. 4
2. 1
5. 5
5. 7
3. 6
100. 0

Similar data for the other six cities recently
surveyed are included in appendix F, p. 40.
Using the adjusted data, a complete revision of
group and item index weights was made for each
of the seven cities. Expenditures for individual
foods, available from the survey for a single week,
were adjusted to annual totals, using seasonal
adjustment factors. Expenditures for individual
items were allocated in the usual manner to the
sample of items priced for the index. Two excep­
tions were radios, transferred from the “ house­
furnishings" group to the “ reading and recreation"
subgroup, and alcoholic beverages, shifted from
food to the miscellaneous group.
Appendix H, p. 44, shows in detail the groupings
of family expenditure data to obtain index weights.

Estimation of Weights for Other Cities
Reasonable assumptions about the economic
factors affecting the behavior of consumer expendi­
tures were tested against 1934-36 expenditure
data available for 32 of the 34 cities, and against
the later adjusted survey data for 7 cities.
Coefficients of rank correlation of 1934-36
group percentage expenditures with city popula­
tion size, population density, community income,
relative temperature, and percent of homes owned
were calculated, where appropriate, for all cities,
or for different city size groups. Since scatter
diagrams of the relationships did not indicate a
significant degree of correlation this approach was
abandoned.
A second approach was through analysis of the
adjustment of index weights for the 7 cities,
based on the adjusted survey data. The general

14

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

city-to-citv consistency in the direction of and,
for some groups, the size of adjustment supported
the validity and applicability of the data for weight
estimations. (See table 6.)
In the main, the weight revision in these cities
resulted in a decreased weight for food, shelter,
and fuel, little change in the apparel weights, and
increased weight for the less urgent categories of
consumption.
Comparison of the adjusted survey data with
the current index weights in 6 of these cities18 not
only pointed up the exact nature of the weight
dislocations, but through the technique of mean
square deviations provided a statistical standard
with which to measure the validity of estimates
resulting from various methods. The mean
square, or variance around the mean, is the
sum of the squares of the deviations of each value
from the mean, divided by the number of obser­
vations corrected for degrees of freedom. An
adaptation of this technique was used to compare
estimated index weights with observed weights in
the 6 cities. Table 7 gives a summary of some of
the mean square tests. A complete summary of
the mean square tests is given in appendix G, p.41.
It is clear at once that the mean square devia­
tions of the adjusted percentage expenditures
from current index weights are in total very much
larger than the deviations from 1934-36 weights or
the variance around the 6-city average. For
food, the mean square of deviations of adjusted
percentage expenditures from current index
weights was 92.9, compared with 7.5 from the
1934-36 weights and 6.1 for the variance around
their average corrected for the difference between
the mean of the 6 cities and the mean of the 32
cities in 1934-36. It was evident, therefore,
that a method of estimation could be found which
would improve the current index weights for all
cities. A guiding principle of estimation was
that, to be acceptable, estimated weights must
give a lower mean square than the current index
weights when tested against adjusted survey data
for the 6 cities.
The general procedure of estimating weights
for cities not surveyed in recent years was (1) to
develop estimating methods based on reasonable
assumptions about the economic behavior of
18 Because the survey from which Washington base index weights were
obtained was not strictly comparable with other cities, Washington was
not used in most of the estimating processes. Hence, the varying refer­
ences to “6-” and “7-city” surveys.




consumer expenditure distributions, (2) to cal­
culate estimates based on several different esti­
mating methods, (3) to test these estimates
against the observed data for the 6 cities, and
(4) to select the method which gave the smallest
mean square of the deviations estimated from
actual data in the 6 cities. If one of several
methods appeared clearly superior on logical
grounds to the others, it might be used in prefer­
ence to one showing a lower mean square, pro­
vided its mean square was not more than twice
the smallest.
The mean square test was not used as a measure
of the probable error of estimate in other cities,
but rather as a means of choosing statistically the
best among several logical methods of estimation.

General Estimating Methods
Two estimating methods proved to give the
best results for most group estimates.
Method A is based on the assumption that
the change in expenditures from 1934-36 to 1950
has been consistent in magnitude and direction in
all cities; and also that the intercity differences in
expenditure distributions existing in the earlier
period still persist. This method, therefore, uses
the ratio of the 6-city average (p^q^) adjusted
percentage expenditure from the recent surveys
to the average percentage expenditure in 1934-36
( p^qu) as an adjustment factor applied to the
1934-36 data (puqu) for each city. This calcu­
lation gives the estimated index weight and for
any given city (i) can be expressed as follows:
Method A:

..6X (P34q34)i — {p$0 q 49) t
Puqzi

Method A was used to estimate index weights for
the food group and for automobile purchase and
other transportation in the miscellaneous group.
Method B is based on the assumption that the
change in quantity and quality consumption from
1934-36 to 1950 has been consistent in all cities
both in magnitude and direction; and that the
average relationship between current index
weights and current expenditures measures the
necessary correction for the dislocation of weights
in the index. It preserves the intercity differ­
ences that exist in current index weights. This
method, therefore, uses the ratio of the average
adjusted percentage expenditures from the recent

15

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF INDEX

6-city purveys (p50q496) to the 6-city average of
current index weights (p5Qqz46) as an adjust­
ment factor applied to the current index weights
for each city (p5oqM)i- This calculation gives
the estimated index weight and can be expressed
as follows:
Method B:

X

= (p^q)w

i?50234

Method B was used to estimate index weights for
the following groups of items: clothing; fuel,
light, and refrigeration; housefurnishings and
equipment; household operation; medical care;
reading and recreation; and tobacco and alcoholic
beverages.
A good deal of economic logic supports the as­
sumption on which these methods are based.
Many of the factors affecting expenditure patterns
were still much the same in each city as they
were in 1934-36— such as climate, general geo­
graphic environment, industry, racial charac­
teristics, etc.— or had changed in about the same
way since 1934-36— such as income, population,
and the like. However, there have been some
changes in intercity relationships with respect to
these factors, and the estimates based on these
methods are more or less accurate to the extent
that such changes have taken place.
Estimates based on methods A and B were
calculated for all other groups of items, and mean
square tests of 6-city estimates were made for use
in evaluating results of other estimating methods.
The total mean square deviation for all group
estimates by Method A was 17, and by Method B,
22. Both of these values were very much less than
the total mean square deviation of 131 when the
current index weights were tested against the
survey data for the 6 cities. (See table 7.)

Other Estimating Methods
Still other estimating methods were used for
personal care, housing, and automobile operation.
Analysis of family expenditure data reveals
that personal care takes a fairly constant propor­
tion of expenditures from time to time and from
place to place. For the 7 cities, the percentage
expenditures for white families varied from 2.1 to
2.4 percent and for Negro families from 2.6 to 3.6
percent. For other cities, therefore, current index
weights were adjusted by weighting together the



T able 7. — Summary of mean square tests
Mean square deviations of adjusted percentage
expenditures in 6 cities from—
Commodity group

A ll

groups__________

Food__________ ____
Apparel.------- ---------Housing___________
Rent3 .......... .......
Home owner cost3.
Fuel, light, and refrig­
eration ________ ..
Household operations..
Housefurnishings____
Automobile ________
Purchase _____
Operation3
__
Other transportation__
Personal care________
Medical care _______
Reading and recrea­
tion. ____________
Tobacco and alcoholic
beverages_______

Weights esti­
Aver­
mated by—
age*
Final Current
1934-36
index weights expend­
weights 1weights
itures,
Method
6cities Method
B
A
15.62

131.10

7. 81
1.15

92.92

64.38

21.95

16. 98

7.46

6.14

6 .4 7

21.94

8.59
1 .2 2

4.09

21. 52

2.88

2.20

5.10
.97
3. 64
10. 42

14. 40
.69
5. 56
5.69

2.66

.95
1.18
5.46

.60
.33
4. 54

.34
.04
.84

4 .0 2

.1 0

1.30

.04
.30

.40
.27

.18

4.88

3.43

.22

.62

.1 1

.43

2. 50

1.53

.38

.57

.3 5

.40
.33
.77
.46

.66

2.19
.52
.32
.03
.37

1.11

.55
.24
.36

.89

1.33
.89

2.31

.79
1.14
.84
1.24
3. 44

2 .9 0

.7 8
.6 0
.8 4

6.24

.2 3

1Based on estimated weights adjusted to total 100.
*Adjusted for significant differences between moan of 6 cities and mean of
32 cities in 1934-36.
3 Mean square deviations of estimated weights for:
Rent by Method H, .37; Home owner costs by Method J, .29;
Auto operations by Method R, .55.
4 Based on average of 7 cities.
Italics indicate selected method.

simple averages for white and Negro families in
7 cities by white-Negro population weights ob­
tained from the dwelling unit survey for the city
to be estimated.
Intercity differences in housing and automobile
operation are known to be large, and the index
weight adjustments for these groups in the 7 cities
were not entirely consistent as to direction or
magnitude. Average annual dollar expenditures
for rent were calculated directly from a 1949-50
BLS dwelling unit survey for each of the 34 cities
for white and Negro families separately. These
data were adjusted for comparability with expend­
iture survey data in the 7 cities.
For index weights it was necessary to convert
these dollar estimates to a percentage of estimated
dollar expenditures on all items. A fairly constant
ratio was found between adjusted total expendi­
tures and total index value weights, in the 6 sur­
veyed cities, when analyzed separately by race.
Total expenditures, therefore, were estimated by
applying these average ratios by race to corre­
sponding index value weights for the city to be
estimated (as for Method B). Estimated dollar
expenditures for rent divided by these estimated
total expenditures gave the percentage weight for
rent. This method is referred to as Method H.

16

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

Estimated dollar expenditures for owned hous­
ing were computed by multiplying the 7-city
average expenditure per home owner by the per­
centage of homes owned in each city. This
estimated dollar expenditure was converted to a
percentage weight as in the rent estimating pro­
cedure. This is referred to as Method J.
A simple regression equation of dollar expendi­
tures for automobile operation on percent of
families owning cars as shown by the survey data
for 6 cities was calculated (Method R). The
percent of families owning cars was estimated for
each city by dividing total passenger car registra­
tions by the number of dwelling units in the city
as reported in the 1950 Census of Housing.
R. L. Polk & Co. automobile registration data,19
adjusted to the survey level, were used in estima­
ting car ownership for the regression equation.
Estimated dollar expenditures for automobile
operation were calculated for each city and con­
verted to a percent of estimated total dollar
expenditures in the same way as was done for
housing.
Many estimating methods were tried for use in
adjusting weights; some were carried through the
mean square tests; others were discarded on the
basis of scatter diagrams.
Methods of estimation similar to that used for
automobile operation were attempted for car
purchase but dubious results finally led to selec­
tion of Method A.
Because of the importance of food and the size
of the index weight adjustment required in the
7 cities, special attention was given to the possi­
bility of developing estimates by regression or
other methods from independent data available
for the 34 cities. All estimating methods were,
after test, finally discarded in favor of Method A.
For clothing and public transportation, regres­
sion equations of the 6-city percentage expendi­
tures on population were calculated; and for fuel,
the 6-city percentage expenditures on climate,
and on climate and percent of homes owned.
When tested for 6 cities, none of these yielded as
low a mean square as Method A or Method B.
For the remaining groups— furnishings and
equipment, household operation, medical care,
reading and recreation, and alcoholic beverages
and tobacco— mean squares of estimates by
19 Published by the Automobile Manufacturers Association in A u to m o b ile

F a c ts a n d F ig u re s.




Method A or Method B were considerably below
those of current index weights and no further
tests were considered necessary.
The selection of an estimating method was ulti­
mately made separately for each group. In a
final step, it was necessary to adjust these inde­
pendently estimated weights to total 100. This
adjustment did not greatly change the unad­
justed estimates. The total mean square devia­
tions, using selective methods for each commodity
group, were lower than those obtained by sole use
of either Method A or Method B. A comparison
of the combined 34-city index weights of major
groups and subgroups of food and miscellaneous
for January 1950 before and after adjustment is
included in appendix E, p. 35.
In general, item weights and subgroup weights,
except for food subgroups, were adjusted only
where data for the 7 cities showed a consistent
and usually a substantial difference between cur­
rent index weights and actual expenditures. After
such adjustments were made, the estimated per­
centage weights were adjusted to 100 within each
group.

Food Subgroups
The changes made to food subgroup weights
were comparatively small. Use of the 1948 food
consumption surveys for Birmingham, Buffalo,
Minneapolis-St. Paul, and San Francisco by the
Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Eco­
nomics of the Department of Agriculture (adjusted
for comparability with BLS 7-city survey data)
provided data for 11 cities altogether which were
used for adjustments in weights for all 56 food
cities.
For most subgroups, the ratio of the adjusted
survey percentage expenditures to the current
index weights in 11 cities was fairly consistent and
was used to adjust index weights for other cities
as in Method B. For two groups— meats, poultry
and fish, and beverages— variation in the adjusted
percentage expenditures in the 11 cities was very
small, and no acceptable relationships between
these expenditures and other factors could be
established. For these groups, and for frozen
fruits and vegetables, a new subgroup, the average
of 11 cities was used as the estimate for all cities.
For the remaining group, fresh fruits and vege­
tables, a good correlation was found between

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF INDEX

percentage expenditures and population density,
apparently reflecting the influence of home gar­
dens in less heavily populated areas. This rela­
tionship was used in estimating index weights for
this subgroup. As a final step, separate subgroup
estimates were adjusted to 100 within the food
group.
Weights for food items which showed a consistent
difference between current index weights and ad­
justed percentage expenditures in the 11 cities
were adjusted by Method B. These adjustments
resulted in the following weight shifts within sub­
groups besides addition of new items: increased—
vanilla cookies and layer cake, hamburger, poultry,
fresh milk, shortening, margarine; decreased—
corn meal, rolled oats, rib roast, veal cutlet,
butter, apples, canned tomatoes, coffee, sugar,
lard, salad dressing.

Fuel, Light, and Refrigeration
Sizable shifts since 1934-36 in types of fuel used
were observed in the 7 cities surveyed, and were
known to have taken place in other cities. Gas
for space heating and fuel oil were added for cities
in which they had become important. Adjusted
index weights for Birmingham, Indianapolis, and
Portland, Oreg., surveyed by BLS for 1945, and
Milwaukee, Savannah, and Scranton, surveyed by
BLS for 1946, were based on the survey data, ad­
justed for changes in prices and consumption in
the same way as were the 1947-49 surveys.
For the remaining 21 cities, varying sources of
information were used for each city. Adjusted
index weight subtotals were calculated for heating
fuels and nonheating fuel items within the group
by Method B. The relative expenditures for
heating fuel items in wide use in the 7 cities were
generally proportional to the percentage of families
using each item, and this relationship was used in
distributing the total weight on heating fuels to
the individual items.

Apparel, Housefurnishings, and Miscellaneous
Method B was used to adjust subgroup weights
within the apparel group for 26 cities. Additional
survey data available from a 1948 BHNHE survey
were used for Minneapolis. The subgroup weight
adjustments resulted in decreased weights for
men’s, boys’ and girls’ apparel, and increased



17

weights for women’s and infants’ apparel and yard
goods. No important adjustments of item weights
were required in this group.
The housefurnishings group includes textile
housefurnishings, furniture, heavy durable goods,
and smaller household equipment. Because the
items in the group are heterogeneous and because
the direction of adjustments of index weights in
the 7 cities was generally uniform for all items
within the group, each item was adjusted by
Method B. Weight adjustment within this group
resulted in increased weight on washing machines
and curtains and decreased weight on brooms,
furniture, wool rugs, and cook stoves.
As already indicated, index weights were ad­
justed separately for each subgroup of items in
the miscellaneous group. The adjustment of
item weights within these subgroups was limited
for the most part to a redistribution of weights
within subgroups after introduction of new items.
In the personal care subgroup home permanent
wave kits were added with weights based on
average expenditures in the 7 survey cities.
Automobile repairs were added to the index
pricing list for 21 of the 34 cities and their weight
within the automobile operation subgroup was
based on the average index weight in the other
13 cities. Domestic service was added to the
index pricing list in 22 cities and its weight within
household operation was based on the average
index weights in the other 12 cities. Cleanser,
matches, and laundry starch were deleted from all
city lists.
Two new items, television sets in 27 cities and
velocipedes, were added to the index pricing list
for reading and recreation. The average percent­
age expenditure in 7 cities was used for velocipedes.
Because the television industry has grown rapidly,
the 7-city survey data for this item were unrealistic
for index weights even for the survey cities. Aver­
age family expenditures for television, representing
1949 quantities at 1950 prices, were estimated for
each of the 27 cities having TV stations, based on
number of sets sold multiplied by an estimated
average price calculated as a weighted average of
prices of 3 leading manufacturers. Estimated
family expenditures varied widely—from $19.45
in one city to $110.31 in another. Because of
this and because it was impossible to anticipate
changes in television expenditures in the near
future, it was decided to use for each of the 27

18

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

cities the average of the 27 city estimates, reduced
by 50 percent and converted to a percent of Esti­
mated family expenditures for reading and rec­
reation.
Group hospitalization was added to the index
pricing list of medical care items. Estimated
family expenditures were calculated by multiplying
the percentage of population enrolled in Blue
Cross plans in each city by family hospitalization
rates, both reported by the Blue Cross Commis­
sion of the American Hospital Association. Since
these estimates were based on total population
they were adjusted to represent family expendi­
tures on the basis of observed survey data in
6 cities.
The introduction of new items in the miscella­
neous group and the adjustment of weights on
items showing consistent differences between index
weights and adjusted percentage expenditures in
the 7 cities, resulted in the following important
shifts in weights within the group: weights were
increased on automobile repairs and train fare and
decreased on hospital rooms and doctors’ fees,
men’s haircuts, and radios.

Recalculation of Indexes
The final step preparatory to recalculation of
adjusted indexes was to distribute current index
values (aggregates) for all items according to
adjusted percentage weights for groups and items
for each city. Since the food index is calculated
with physical quantity weights, it was also
necessary to calculate revised quantity multipliers
reflecting both revised value weights and revised
city population weights.
After extensive consideration of three alterna­
tive link dates for the new index series— January
1950, June 1950, and January 1951— January 1950
was finally chosen and published indexes back to
January 1950 were recalculated. The new unit
bias correction was applicable to January 1950,
and the adjusted quantity weights were more
appropriate to this date than to June 1950 or
January 1951.
Index aggregates were recalculated from Jan­
uary 1950 forward, using the same price relatives
as in the old index (for items included in both
series) and adjusted weights. The originally
published January 1950 all-city indexes for rent
and all items and January, February, or March



1950 city indexes (depending on frequency and
schedule of price collection) were corrected for the
new unit bias in the rent index. Indexes for the
first month of the completely adjusted series,
January 1950, are the originally published Jan­
uary 1950 indexes except for rent and all
items which had been corrected for new unit
bias. Price changes from January 1950 forward,
calculated with adjusted group and item weights
were linked to these adjusted January 1950 indexes
to complete the adjusted series.

Comparison of Index Series
The movement of the adjusted 34-city index
series for all items since January 1950 has not been
very different from the old series; the adjusted
series rose 1 percent less in a year. The difference
in movement of the two series is due chiefly
to the downward adjustment of the weight on
foods which increased sharply in price during
the year, and to the increased weight on items in
the miscellaneous group. (See chart 2.)
The difference in the level of the two indexes
at the start is due solely to the correction of the
rent index which was incorporated entirely in the
month of January 1950.
The variation in the measurement of average
price changes for all items reflects not only the
Chart 2.— Consumers* Price Index, A l l Items (Adjusted
and O ld Series), January 1 9 5 0 -A p riI 1951
INDEX

19

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF INDEX

Chart 3.— Consumers' Price Index, Commodity Groups (Adjusted and O ld Series),
January 1950-A pril 1951

I9 3 5 - 3 9 M 0 0
-Adjusted Series
index
230

-----Old Series

Index
220
APPAREL

FOOD

/

220

—

-

210 -

-

200

ftft
ff tftt
n
__ -y

210

/

//

/

_

/

if

//

tf
/ t/ f
i/

200

190

!

1

1

1

1

if
ifif

190

1

1

1

1

1

l

1

I

180

1

1

I

1

1

1

1

1

y

1

1

1

1

1 J

150

I40

F U E L , E L E C T R IC IT Y
A N D R E F R IG E R A T IO N

RENT

_____

-----

^

___

I20

*

140

I30

1

1

1

1

1 1 1

1

!

1

t

...I__ l .

130

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

I I I

1

1

1

180

220

M IS C E L L A N E O U S

H O U S E F U R N IS H IN G S

2I0

/*

t t>
//

*

—

170

t/
/y
/ /
* y
200

150

190

I80

1 1 I
i1 F M A

U NITED ST A T E S D E P A R T M E N T OF
BU R E AU OF L A B O R S T A T IS T IC S

1
M

1
J

1 1 1 11
J A S 0 N

1950

LABOR


969C82—52---- 4


-

160

/ /
t iff
iiff
tt ftf f
ifif

1
D >)

1 1
F M A

1951

140 __ 1__ 1__ !__ 1__ 1__ I__ 1__ 1__ 1__ 1__ 1__ __ 1
J F M A M J J A S O N D , 1 F

1950

1

M A

1951

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

20

group-weight adjustments but also the internal
adjustments which are reflected in different
changes for commodity group indexes. About
one-half of the difference between the two indexes
in their movement from January 1950 to January
1951 is accounted for by changes in the group
weight; about three-eighths by changes in internal
weights within groups; and the remainder by the
interaction of the two kinds of changes.
Percent increase in indexes: Average of
34 cities
January 1950 to
January 1951

Item

Adjusted
series

January 1950 to
June 1950

Old
series

Adjusted
series

Old
series

All items...... ..............................

7.9

8.8

1.2

2.0

Food.................................. .........
Apparel_____________________
Rent__ ____________________
Fuel, electricity, and refrigera­
tion._____ _________________
Housefurnishings___ ____ ______
Miscellaneous________________

13.2
7.3
2.9

13.1
7.9
2.8

3.6
-.2
1.2

4.4
0
1.1

2.4
12.3
4.5

3.2
13.1
5.5

-.6
.1
-.3

—.8
.3
.1

The combined effect of differences in weights
and price movements for each major group on the
measurement of average price change for all items
from January 1950 to January 1951 is illustrated
below mathematically. This table shows how the
various groups account for a net difference of 0.9
in the price change on the two series over the year,
and indicates the decreased influence of food and
the increased influence of the miscellaneous group.
Old index
(2)

0)
Item

Adjusted index
(3)

(4)

(6)

(5)

Price
Price
relative, W 0 1 g IIL , Prod­ relative, Adjusted Prod­
Jan. 1950 «T
uct. (4)
an ±UO\J
I Q ^ n uct, (1) Jan. 1950 weight,
l
ctll.
to Jan.
to Jan. Jan. 1950 X (5)
X (2)
1951
1951

All items.............

108.8 X 100.0 -

Food....................
Apparel...............
Rent....................
Fuel........ ............
Housefuraishings.
Miscellaneous___

113.1
107.9
102.8
103.2
113.1
105.5

X
X
X
X
X
X

41.6
12.2
13.8
5.6
4.7
22.1

=
=■
**
=

108.8
47.0
13.2
14.2
5.8
5.3
23.3

107.9 X 100.0 113.2
107.3
102.9
102.4
112.3
104.5

X
X
X
X
X
X

33.3
12.8
11.6
3.7
5.7
32.9

«
*=
=*
=

107.9
37.7
13.7
11.9
3.8
6.4
34.4

City Indexes
There are greater differences between the two
index series for individual cities than for the
34-city average. The amount of the correction
for new unit bias and consequently in the adjust­
ment of index level at January 1950 for all items
and rent varies widely. Moreover some of the
weight adjustments, particularly for the 7 cities



recently surveyed, have varied from the average
adjustment, thus exerting different effects on
group price movements. Tabulations of indexes
for all items and for major groups from January
1950 through April 1951, are shown for each city
in appendix C. A tabulation of relative import­
ances of major groups by city is shown in
appendix E.

Food
The measurement of average change in United
States food prices over the whole period from
January 1950 to January 1951 was almost the
same by the two series. However, adjustment
of the food subgroup and item weights dampened
the sharp rise from April to July 1950 and the
sharp advance in the 2 months from Novem­
ber 1950 to January 1951. It also eliminated
the decline from July to September 1950,
previously reported on the old series. (See chart 3.)

Other Groups
The result of weight adjustments for the fuel,
light, and refrigeration group, has been both a
smaller average rise and less sharp fluctuations
of the index. This is because more weight has
been given to more stable items, particularly gas
and electricity, and less weight to coal.
Average price changes over the year for the
apparel, housefurnishings, and miscellaneous
groups have been lower, according to the adjusted
series for these groups, reflecting the net effect of
internal weight adjustments and addition of new
items already mentioned. For housefurnishings,
the difference seems to be due chiefly to the shift
in weights from furniture and rugs to durable
goods, prices for which had been more stable. For
the miscellaneous group the differences seem to
arise from the addition of television sets which
decreased in price in the middle of the year; the
shift in weight from doctors’ and hospital fees to
group hospitalization which had been more stable;
and weight adjustments for men’s haircuts, soaps,
and other items.
Although the level of the United States rent
index has been raised by the new unit bias correc­
tion, the movement of the rent indexes over the
year is almost identical. The only differences
arise from the slight effect of changes in city
population weights on the average change for
all cities.

APPENDIXES

Appendix A
T ab le A - l : Consumers’ price index for moderate-income fam ilies: Adjusted all-items and rent indexes for 34 large cities

combined, by year and month, 1940-49
[1935-39=100]1
1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1945

1946

1947

1948

1949

Period
All items
Average........................... .........
January....................................
February.................. .............
March................................ ......
April........................... ..............
May.........................................
June............ ............................
July------ ------ --------------------August..--------- ------------------September_________________
October..... ............... ...............
November......... ......................
December..................... ..........

100.2
0)
0
99.8
0)
0)
100.5
0)
0
100.4
100.2
100.1
100.7

105.2
100.8
100.8
101.2
102.2
102.9
104.6
105.3
106.2
108.1
109.3
110.2
110.5

116.6
112.0
112.9
114.3
115.1
116.0
116.4
117.1
117.6
117.9
119.1
119.9
120.5

123.7
120.8
121.1
122.9
124.2
125.2
124.9
124.1
123.6
124.1
124.6
124.4
124.6

125.7
124.4
124.0
124.0
124.8
125.3
125.6
126.3
126.6
126.7
126.7
126.8
127.2

128.6
127.3
127.1
127.0
127.3
128.3
129.2
129.6
129.5
129.1
129.1
129.5
130.1

139.5
130.1
129.8
130.4
131.3
131.9
133.5
141.5
144.4
146.2
148.9
152.5
153.6

159.6
153.6
153.5
156.7
156.6
156.4
157.5
158.8
160.7
164.3
164.3
165.4
167.5

171.9
169.3
168.0
167.5
169.9
171.1
172.4
174.4
175.2
175.2
174.4
173.0
172.2

170.2
171.7
169.9
170.4
170.7
170.2
170.6
169.6
169.9
170.7
169.7
169.8
168.8

109.5
0
0
109.4
0
0
109.4
0
0
109.5
0
0
109.6

110.1
0
0
109.8
0
0
109.9
0
110.2
110.3
0
0

113.6
110.7
110.9
111.1
111.2
111.4
111.5
112.4
113.7
116.2
117.6
118.0
118.3

121.2
118.9
119.2
119.6
119.7
120.3
120.7
121.1
121.7
122.6
122.9
123.2
124.0

126.4
124.4
124.8
125.1
125.5
125.8
126.2
126.4
126.7
127.3
127.8
128.4
128.8

Rent
Average........... ............... .........
January..... ..............................
February......... ........................
March.....................................
April___ ____*_____________
May.......................................
June------------- ------- -----------July________ ________ ______
August___ ______ __________
September............... ....... ....... .
October..---- --------------------November__________ _____
December.................................

104.6
0)

0
104.5
0

0
104.6
0)
0
104.7
104.7
104.7
104.9

106.4
105.0
105.1
105.2
105.5
105.8
105.9
106.2
106.4
107.0
107.7
108.0
108.4

108.8
108.6
108.8
109.2
109.5
110.2
108.8
108.4
108.4
108.4
108.4
108.5
108.5

108.7
108.5
108.6
108.6
108.6
108.6
108.6
108.7
108.7
108.7
108.8
108.8
108.9

109.1
108.9
108.9
109.0
109.0
109.0
109.0
109.1
109.1
109.2
0
0
109.3

0

1Data not available.




21

22

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OP CPI

Appendix B
T able B - l : Consumers' price index for moderate-income fam ilies: Adjusted all-items and rent indexes, United States and 84
cities, by year , 1940-49 , and by month , 1947-49
[1935-39=100]
34 cities
combined

Atlanta

Baltimore

Birmingham

Boston

Buffalo

Chicago

Period
All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

1940____________ ________ ______
1941____________________________
1942............. .....................................
1943________________ ___________
1944 _____ ____________________
1945______ ____ _________ _______
1946________________ ___________
1947__________ __________________
1948___________________ _____
1949____ _______ ____ ____________

100.2
105.2
116.6
123.7
125.7
128.6
139.5
159.6
171.9
170.2

104.6
106.4
108.8
108.7
109.1
109.5
110.1
113.6
121.2
126.4

99.1
104.6
115.8
123.9
126.0
130.4
140.2
162.5
173.4
173.0

104.3
105.1
106.8
107.3
107.9
108.4
109.5
114.2
126.1
138.1

99.9
106.2
118.5
126.0
127.9
132.0
142.1
164.0
176.1
175.6

104.2
109.1
111.1
108.4
108.9
109.8
110.5
115.3
121.6
128.9

99.8
106.7
118.3
125.6
129.3
132.4
142.7
165.3
176.0
172.9

113.9
121.5
125.1
122.4
123.4
123.7
124.7
132.7
144.1
152.8

99.3
103.5
114.5
120.7
122.0
124.4
134.7
153.3
165.9
163.9

100.5
101.5
104.9
105.1
105.1
105.4
106.0
109.9
115.8
120.3

101.0
107.5
120.1
126.6
126.5
129.0
138.8
159.2
171.2
169.8

106.2
110.8
116.0
116.4
117.2
117.7
118.1
119.7
126.3
132.6

100.6
105.7
116.3
122.8
124.8
127.4
138.6
161.0
175.1
174.9

108.6
110.6
114.2
114.6
114.9
115.2
116.1
122.7
134.1
141.5

1947: January___________________
February________________
March________ ____ ________
April_______________ ______
May___________ ___________
June__..... ...............................
July._____ ________________
August____________________
September____________ _____
October____________________
November............. ....... ....... .
December________________

153.6
153.5
156.7
156.6
156.4
157.5
158.8
160.7
164.3
164.3
165.4
167.5

110.7
110.9
111.1
111.2
111.4
111.5
112.4
113.7
116.2
117.6
118.0
118.3

0)
(0
161.3
0)
0)
159.5
0)
162.6
0)
0)
168.0
0)

(>)
0)
0)
0)
111.1
0)
(0
0)
0)
0)
119.7
(0

156.8
156.6
160.3
160.5
160.2
161.4
0)
0)
168.8
C1)
0)
172.4

111.6
0)
0)
0)
0)
0)
0)
0)
117.1
(0
0)
118.7

159.0
158.4
162.4
162.1
161.1
162.6
164.6
167.1
169.6
170.2
172.2
174.4

0)
0)
0)
127.8
0)
0)
(0
135.1
0)
0)
139.4
0)

148.8
147.6
150.5
149.6
148.8
150.6
152.2
154.8
158.9
157.8
158.7
160.8

106.9
0)
0)
(0
0)
0)
112.1
0)
0)
113.5

153.2
152.9
155.8
155.8
156.8
158.3
159.7
C1)
0)
163.2
0)
(0

0)
0)
0)
0)
118.7
0)
0)
(0
0)
120.7
0)
0)

153.2
153.0
156.4
155.9
157.0
158.5
160.3
162.9
168.5
167.5
168.5
170.3

0)
0)
0)
(0
117.3
(0
0)
(l)
128.6

1948: January___________________
February___________ ______
March.. ______________ ____
April____ _________________
May______ ________________
June____ ________ ________
July_______________________
August____________________
September_________________
October____________________
November____________ _____
December__ _____________

169.3
168.0
167.5
169.9
171.1
172.4
174.4
175.2
175.2
174.4
173.0
172.2

118.9
119.2
119.6
119.7
120.3
120.7
121.1
121.7
122.6
122.9
123.2
124.0

0)
169.9
0)
0)
171.8
0)
0)
177.4
0)
0)
175.1
0)

0)
121.7
0)
0)
124.0
0)
0)
127.9
0)
0)
130.8
0)

0)
0)
172.1
0)
0)
177.3
0)
0)
180.5
0)
0)
175.3

(0
0)
120.3
0)
(9
121.2
(0
0)
122.6
0)
0)
123.8

175.0
173.5
172.7
173.5
174.5
175.6
177.9
180.2
179.6
177.9
176.1
175.9

(9
140.7
0)
(9
143.1
0)
0)
145.3
(9
(9
146.9
0)

163.5
161.7
161.3
164.1
164.6
166.6
169.1
169.2
169.6
168.4
167.3
165.3

168.1

0)
114.4
0)
115.0
0)
0)
0)
117.2
0)
0)
118.0

173.8
(0
0)

123.3
0)
0)
124.5
0)
0)
126.8
0)
0)
128.2
0)
0)

171.7
169.0
169.2
172.3
175.1
176.4
178.9
179.1
179.7
178.4
176.2
175.7

0)
0)
131.8
0)
0)
132.9
(0
0)
135.2
0)
0)
139.9

1949: January_____________ ______
February__________________
March_____________________
April____________ ________
May______________________
June___________________ ___
July_____ ____ ____________
August____________ ______
September_______ __________
October____________ ______
November_________________
December____________ _____

171.7
169.9
170.4
170.7
170.2
170.6
169.6
169.9
170.7
169.7
169.8
168.8

124.4
124.8
125.1
125.5
125.8
126.2
126.4
126.7
127.3
127.8
128.4
128.8

0)
171.8
0)
0)
172.5
0)
0)
174.5
0)
0)
173.0
(0

0)
134.1
0)
0)
137.3
0)
0)
139.4
0)
0)
141.7
0)

0)
0)
175.6
0)
0)
176.2
0)
0)
176.4
(0
0)
173.6

0)
0)
126.1
(0
0)
128.6
0)
0)
130.9
0)
0)
133.4

174.9
173.0
173.1
173.0
172.9
173.7
172.6
172.8
173.6
172.2
172.4
170.4

(9
149.9
0)
0)
152.1
(9
(9
154.2
154.6
155.1
155.9
166.4

164.5
162.0
163.2
163.1
162.9
164.0
163.4
164.6
166.2
164.9
164.9
163.6

0)
0)
119.5
0)
119.8
120.3
0)
0)
121.3
121.5
121.8
122.2

171.0
(0
0)
169.7
0)
0)
170.9
0)
0)
169.1
0)
0)

130.8
0)
0)
131.8
0)
0)
132.9
0)
0)
133.5
0)
0)

175.2
173.2
174.8
175.4
174.6
176.3
174.3
174.8
176.2
174.8
175.8
173.7

0)
(0

1Not available.




0)
0)

0)

0)

0)
168.1
(0
0)
174.1
0)

0)

Rent

0)
0)

130.3

140. 8
0)
0)

141.2
0)
0)
141.8
142.7
143.4
143.5

23

APPENDIXES

T ab le B - l : Consumers' price index for moderate-income families: Adjusted all-items and rent indexes, United States and 34

citiesj by year 1940-49 , and by month, 1947-49— Continued
[1935-39=100]
Cincinnati
Period

Cleveland

Denver

Detroit

Houston

Indianapolis

Jacksonville

All
Items

Rent

All
Items

Rent

All
Items

Rent

All
Items

Rent

All
Items

Rent

All
Items

Rent

All
Items

1940-.-........................................... 1941---------- ------- -----------------------1942.................................. -...........—
1943_________ ____ ________ _____
1944.........- ------ --------------------------1945________ ___________________
1946....... — _____________________
1947________ ___________ _______
1948....................................- ....... .
1949________ ____ — .......................

99.0
104.8
116.5
123.1
125.6
128.5
138.7
161.1
173.7
170.4

102.2
103.1
105.0
105.6
105.9
106.2
107.0
110.0
116.5
120.5

101.3
107.2
119.0
127.2
129.5
131.6
141.8
162.4
175.9
172.9

107.9
111.2
116.7
116.4
117.4
118.2
118.9
123.3
129.8
134.7

99.3
103.9
115.7
122.2
124.7
127.4
137.5
158.9
172.9
171.5

106.7
107.4
109.4
109.7
110.3
111.3
114.0
125.4
139.5
147.0

100.3
106.6
118.4
124.8
126.6
130.0
141.4
161.0
173.8
171.6

107.9
112.5
116.8
115.1
116.0
117.0
117.8
121.3
129.7
133.5

101.2
105.7
116.7
122.8
124.0
126.7
136.7
160.5
174.0
173.5

106.7
107.4
109.0
109.9
110.6
111.0
112.9
117.5
128.4
139.9

100.3
106.7
118.4
124.5
126.3
129.1
138.7
161.7
175.3
172.4

110.1
114.6
117.7
115.8
116.1
116.5
117.1
121.4
130.8
134.5

100.1
107.4
120.1
129.4
132.1
136.0
144.2
166.3
176.7
175.8

1947: January-----------------------------February__________________
March_____________________
April--------------------------------May------- --------------------------June __________ __________
July-------------- -------------------August------------- -----------------September-------------------------October____________________
November---------------- ------ —
December__________________

152.8
153.4
157.3
157.5
157.1
158.8
160.8
162.6
166.7
167.6
167.6
170.8

0
0
0
0
0
108. 5
0
0
111.8
0
0
113.8

156.6
156.5
159.8
159.8
159.7
161.0
0)
163.8
0)
0
167.8
0

0)
0
0
120.0
0)
0
0
0
0
0
128.0
0)

152.2
153.2
155.9
157.1
157.3
157.6
157. 6
0
0)
162.8
0)
0)

0)
0
0
0
121.2
0
0
0)
0
132.3
0
0

153.5
153.6
157.1
157.3
157.4
159.3
160.8
163.4
164.9
167.4
167.3
169.7

0)
0)
0)
118.8
0
0)
0)
125.1
0
0

154.4
154.6
157.7
159.2
158.2
158.2
159.1
160.4
162.8
164.2
166.6
170.1

0
0)
0
114.5
0
0
0
0
0
0
121.6
0

0
117.5
0)
0
0
0
118.7
0
0)
127.6
0
0

0
0)
163.6
0
0
163.7
0
0
168.8
0)
0
174.2

1948: January___________________
February---------------- ------- March______ ______________
April---------------------------------May____________ _____ ____
June---- --------------------- ------ July------- ----------- --------------August____________________
September_________________
October____________________
November-------------------------December...... ....... ..................

171.7
170.6
169.9
171.4
172.9
174.1
176.5
176.3
177.0
176.2
174.5
172.9

0
0
114.8
0
0
115.8
0
0
118.0
0
0
119.3

0
172.5
0
0
174.6
0
0
180.3
0
0
177.2
0

0
128.8
0
0
129.3
0)
0
129.8
0
0)
131.3
0

169.6
0
0
171.2
0
0
175.4
0
0
174.0
0
0)

135.1
0
0
137.6
0
0
140.2
0
0
142.0
0
0

171.3
169.7
169.5
172.6
174.0
175.3
176.7
176.9
176.3
175.5
174.0
173.7

127.8
0
0
128.6
0
0
129.7
0
0
131.1
0
0

171.7
171.3
171.0
172.5
172.6
173.7
175.0
176.5
176.8
176.2
175.4
175.4

0
124.4
0
0
127.2
0)
0
130.2
0
0
132.0
0

0
0
157.7
0
0
158.3
159.8
0
0)
168.1
0
0
172.6
0
0
172.8
0
0
176.9
0
0)
178.4
0
0

129.0
0
0
129.7
0
0
131.2
0
0
132.0
0
0

0
0
173.1
0
0
178.6
0
179.5
0
0)
176.6

0
0
125.0
0
0
126.5
0
0
129.4
0)
0
130.2

1949: January___________________
February------ --------------------March____________________
April-------------- ------------------May---------------------------------June-------- ------------------------July______________________
August____________________
September-------------------------October. —................ ...............
November-------------------------December.............. ..................

172.7
170.4
171.4
171.4
169.8
171.2
169.5
169.6
171.6
169.5
169.1
168.6

0
0
120.1
0
0
120.8
0
0
121.1
120.9
120.5
120.7

0
173.6
0
0
172.8
0
0
173.0
0
0
171.9
0

0
133.1
0
0
134.1
0
0
135.0
0
0
136.9
0

174.3
0
0
173.4
0
0
171.6
0
0
168.6
0
0

144.0
0
0
145.6
0
0
147.1
0)
0
148.9
0
0

172.5
171.6
171.8
172.1
172.6
173.0
171.5
171.0
171.5
169.8
171.0
170.3

132.3
0
0
133.0
0
0
133.6
0
134.1
134.4
134.9
135.2

174.3
172.0
172.1
172.9
172.6
172.6
172.6
172.7
173.8
174.4
175.8
175.8

0
134.2
0
0
136.5
0
0
138.8
142.3
146.4
153.8
155.4

174.0
0
0
172.4
0
0
171.5
0
0
172.7
0
0

132.8
0
0
133.5
0
0
134.2
0
0
136.0
0
0

0)
0
174.7
0
0
175.3
0)
0
177.0
0
0
176.0

0
0
130.8
0
0
131.6
0)
0
143.8
0
0
146.7

1Not available.




0

0)

0)

Rent
104.1
111.8
115.3
112.6
113.3
114.3
114.4
116.8
126.9
136.8
0

0)

114.2
0
0
0
0
0
118.2
0
0
120.4

24

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

T able B - l : Consumers’ price index for moderate-income families: Adjusted all-items and rent indexes, United States and 84

cities, by year 1940-49 , and by month, 1947-49 — Continued
[1936-39=100]

Period

Kansas City

Los Angeles

Manchester

All
items

All
items

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

Rent

Memphis

Milwaukee

Minneapolis

Mobile
Rent

1940.......... ............... ............... .........
1941________ ______________ _____
1942________________ _________
1943..________ _________ ____ ____
1944— ____ _________ ___________
1945____________________________
1946___________ _________ ____
1947____________________________
1948_____ ____ _______ _________ 1949_____ ______________________

98.4
102.8
114.2
121.2
123.5
126.7
135.6
153.3
165.7
163.9

102.8
104.5
109.0
109.5
110.4
110.7
111.4
116.7
126.3
133.8

101.1
106.2
119.4
125.4
127.4
131.1
141.3
159.5
171.1
170.6

106.8
107.2
110.3
110.9
111.6
112.2
113.6
119.0
129.8
138.0

100.1
105.2
118.4
126.4
127.7
130.3
140.3
162.5
175.3
170.9

102.3
104.5
107.6
108.1
108.5
108.5
109.6
111.3
115.5
119.9

98.9
104.9
117.6
126.9
129.1
131.7
140.9
164.7
175.7
175.0

105.7
110.4
115.7
116.6
117.2
117.3
117.7
123.8
134.9
144.4

98.7
103.9
114.7
121.3
123.4
126.1
136.1
158.2
171.2
169.1

102.3
104.1
108.7
108.4
108.7
109.1
109.6
112.4
118.9
126.4

100.8
106.0
115.9
121.0
122.3
124.5
135.6
156.6
170.9
169.3

108.0
108.5
109.8
110.2
110.7
110.7
111.6
117.7
127.9
135.2

99.2
107.2
120.7
127.1
128.3
130.2
139.5
162.5
174.1
171.0

106.6
116.0
122.3
117.6
118.6
119.1
119.0
123.4
129.8
133.7

1947: January________ ___________
February._______ __________
March___ ______ _______
April._____________________
May______________________
June________________ _____
July______________________
August___ _______ _______
September..._ _____________
October ---------------------------November.. . . . _ __________
December.. ______________

148.0
149.0
151.1
151.3
150.8
149.9
150.9
0)
(9
158.3
(9
(9

111.9
(9
(9
(9
(9
(9
115.4
(9
(9
121.8
0)
(9

155.6
156.3
157.3
157.9
158.1
156.9
157.8
158.4
162.3
162.0
164.9
166.8

114.9
(9
(9
(9
(9
(9
118.1
(9
(9
(9
124.0
(9

(9
(9
158.3
(9
0)
160.7
162.4
(9
(9
166.4
(9
(9

(9
(9
(9
(9
0)
110.8
(9
(9
0)
112.1
(9
(9

(9
(9
159.4
(9
0)
161.2
(9
(9
169.7
(9
(9
174.3

(9
119.0
(9
(9
(9
(9
0)
125.1
(9
(9
0)
129.8

0)
(9
154.7
(9
(9
156.8
(9
159.2
(9
(9
164.3
(9

(9
(9
(9
(9
(9
110.5
(9
(9
(9
(9
116.3
(9

148.4
149.1
151.8
151.6
151.7
153.1
(9
(9
162.4
(9
(9
166.5

(9
(9
112.6
(9
(9
(9
(9
(9
121.1
(9
(9
124.1

(9
(9
159.8
(9
(9
159.9
(9
(9
165.0
(9
(9
171.0

(9
(9
121.5
(9
(9
(9
(9
(9
124.9
(9
(9
125.9

1948: January______ ____________
February__________________
March____________________
April_____ ________________
May ________ _ _________
June______________________
July______________________
August____________________
September____ ____________
October .. . _____________
November_______________ __
December. __ _______ ______

162.9
(9
(9
163.8
(9
(9
166.9
(9
(9
168.2
(9
(9

123.9
0)
(9
124.6
(9
(9
126.3
0)
(9
128.3
(9
(9

168.4
169.0
168.4
170.3
170.2
169.9
171.4
172.2
172.2
173.1
173.6
174.1

(9
126.2
(9
0)
127.8
0)
0)
131.7
0)
0)
133.5
0)

172.9
0)
(9
172.5
0)
0)
178.7
0)
(9
177.2
0)
0)

113.2
(9
(9
114.1
(9
(9
115.9
(9
(9
116.8
(9
(9

(9
(*)
173.4
(9
(9
175.8
(9
(9
178.4
(9
(9
175.8

(9
(9
132.5
0)
(9
134.3
(9
(9
136.6
(9
(9
139.2

0)
167.3
(9
0)
171.5
0)
(9
175.0
(9
(9
171.7
(9

(9
117.5
(9
(9
118.4
(9
(9
119.4
(9
(9
120.4
(9

(9
(9
168.0
(9
(9
171.7
(9
(9
174.2
(9
(9
171.2

(9
(9
125.0
(9
(9
128.0
(9
(9
129.0
(9
(9
132.4

(9
(9
170.7
(9
(9
174.3
(9
(9
178.2
(9
(9
174.4

(9
(9
126.7
(9
(9
130.2
(9
(9
132.0
(9
(9
132.8

1949: January___________________
February_______ ___________
March________ ____________
April________ ________ ._
May_______ _______ ____
June______________________
July______________________
August________ . . . _____
September____ ___________
October .......... ....... ....... .......
November_________________
December_________________

166.0
0)
0)
164.5
(9
(9
163.5
(9
(9
162.8
(9
(9

130.2
(9
(9
131.9
(9
(9
133.9
0)
(0
136.3
(9
(9

174.2
172.9
172.7
172.9
171.4
170.6
169.2
168.9
169.3
168.8
168.9
167.8

(9
136.2
(9
0)
137.3
(9
0)
139.0
139.3
139.7
140.3
140.9

173.0
0)
0)
171.4
0)
(9
170.8
(9
(9
170.2
0)
(9

118.8
(9
(9
119.2
(9
(9
120.2
(9
(9
120.5
(9
(9

(9
(9
175.1
(9
(9
175.6
(9
(9
175.1
(9
(9
173.5

(9
(9
141.8
0)
(9
144.1
(9
(9
146.2
(9
(9
148.4

0)
169.3
0)
0)
170.0
(9
(9
167.7
(9
(9
169.3
(9

(9
121.8
(9
(9
122.8
(9
(9
123.8
(9
(9
137.0
(9

(9
(9
169.8
(9
(9
169.6
(9
(9
168.9
(9
(9
168.0

(9
(9
133.8
(9
(9
134.6
(9
(9
136.4
(9
(9
137.6

(9
(9
172.0
(9
(9
171.2
(9
(9
170.2
(9
(9
168.4

(9
(9
133.3
(9
(9
133.8
(9
(9
133.9
(9
(9
134.5

Not available.




25

APPENDIXES

T able B - l : Consumers’ price index for moderate-income families: Adjusted all-items and rent indexes, United States and 34

cities, by year 1940-49, and by month, 1947-49 — Continued
[1935-39=100]
New Orleans

New York

Norfolk

Philadelphia

Pittsburgh

Portland,
Maine

Portland,
Oreg.

Period
All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

1940______ ____ ____ _____________
1941____________________________
1942._________ _________________
1943____________________________
1944____________________________
1945____________________________
1946____________________________
1947____________________________
1948_____________________ ____
1949_ _____ ______________________

101.4
107.1
119.8
129.7
130.5
133.1
145.4
168.3
178.9
175.7

103.4
104.8
107.7
108.9
109.4
110.3
111.1
113.6
122.4
129.8

100.8
104.7
114.8
123.2
126.2
129.2
141.8
158.9
169.8
167.8

102.7
102.9
103.4
103.7
103.9
103.9
104.2
105.9
109.6
112.6

98.9
107.8
121.8
131.2
132.0
134.1
143.5
164.9
175.2
172.8

102.9
111.6
117.4
117.8
119.1
119.9
120.7
123.4
130.2
135.0

98.7
103.6
115.3
122.7
124.5
127.5
138.5
158. 6
171.2
169.3

103.2
104.7
106.8
107.2
107.4
107.6
108.1
112.6
120.7
123.3

100.1
105.5
116.2
123.7
126.3
129.4
140.6
162.8
174.8
172.4

105.5
106.5
107.6
107.4
107.6
107.6
107. 7
111.4
117.9
121.1

98.2
103.3
116.0
122.9
124.4
126.0
134.7
155.8
166.6
165.1

100.6
101.2
105.5
106.6
107.0
106.8
106.7
107.9
112.2
114.7

100.9
107.4
122.3
129.7
131.2
135.5
145.0
164.0
178.8
176.8

106.5
109.4
116.8
118.3
118.9
118.3
118.1
122.0
129.9
134.5

1947: January___________________
February------------ ------- ------March................ ............ .........
April_________________ ____
May---------------------------------June______________________
July....................... ..................
August
------------------------September_________________
October_______ ______ ______
November_________________
December________ _________

0
0
165.2
0
0
165.4
0
169.3
0
0
174.0
0)

0
111.9
0
0)
0
0)
0
113.6
0
0
115.8
0

154.8
154.4
157.6
157.0
155.8
157.1
157.8
158.9
162.2
162.0
163.6
165.2

104.5
0
0
0
0
0
105.6
0
0)
107.3
0
0)

0
0
162.7
0)
0
162.7
0
165.4
0
0
170.1
0

0
0
0)
0
121.7
0
0
0
0
0
126.4
0

152.5
151.8
156.3
155.1
155.3
157.3
158.5
159.7
163.4
162.4
164.4
166.5

0
108.8
0)
0
0
0
111.9
0
0)
0
117.9
0

156.0
156.5
159.2
159.0
159.6
161.1
162.7
165.0
168.3
167.9
168.2
170.3

0
0
0
108.7
0
0
0)
112.4
0
114.8
0)
0

0
0
152.6
0
0
153.4
0
0
159.3
0
0
162.1

0)
0)
0
106.6
0
0
(0
0
108.6
0
0
110.3

0
0
161.2
0
0
162.1
162.7
0
0
167.2
0
0

0)
0
0
118.4
0
0
0
0
0
125.9
0
0

1948: January-----------------------------February__________________
March...___ ______________
April _____________________
May_________ ____________
June______________________
July_______________________
August. _____________ _____
September__________ ______
October_____ ______ ______
November.______ __________
December__________________

0)
178.2
0
0
177.9
(0
0
181.6
0
178.7
0

0
118.3
0)
0
120.8
0
0
123.7
0
0
126.9
0

167.4
166.8
164.7
167.4
167.9
169.6
173.1
173.8
173.8
172.2
171.6
169.8

108.5
0
0
108.9
0
0
109.7
0
0
110.4
0
0

0
172.2
0
0
174.1
0
0
178.6
0
0
176.6
0

0
127.6
0)
0
129.2
0
0
131.4
0
0)
132.7
0)

168.6
166.8
165.8
169.6
170.7
172.4
173.2
175.1
175.2
174.5
172.1
171.0

0
119.1
0
0
120.1
0
0
121.4
0
0
122.2
0

172.4
170.2
170.2
172.0
173.6
175.8
177.9
178.4
178.4
177.2
176.0
175.0

116.1
0
0
116.1
0
0
118.8
0
0
119.3
0
0

0
0)
162.8
0
0
167.5
0
0
170.8
0
0
167.2

0)
0
110.5
0
0
112.3
0
0)
113.1
0)
0
114.0

175.2
0
0
176. 6
0
0
181.2
0
0
181.0
0
0

127.7
0
0
128.6
0
0
129.8
0
0
131.6
0
0

1949: January___________________
February.. ______________
March_____ ______________ _
April ------------------------- -----May.._____ _______________
June______________________
July.......... ....... ........ .............
August______________ _____
September____ _____ ______
October..____ _____________
November.. _______________
December___ ______________

0
175.4
0
0
174.9
0)
0
176.4
0
0
176.0
0

0
128.0
0
0
129.2
0
0)
130.4
0
0
131.7
0

169.8
167.5
168.1
168.9
167.6
167.8
168.0
167.7
168.4
166.9
166.8
166.0

111.1
0
0
112.2
0
(0
113.1
0
113.3
113.5
113.6
113.8

0
173.3
0
0
173.2
0
0
173.2
0
0
171.3
0

0
133.8
0
0
134.5
0
0
135.6
0)
0)
136.3
0

170.8
168.9
169.4
169.4
170.3
169.6
168.0
169.2
170.1
169.4
169.1
167.8

0
122.7
0
0
123.0
0
0
123.7
123.9
124.0
124.1
124.3

174.7
172.2
172.8
173.1
173.0
173.2
172.0
172.5
172.4
171.2
171.4
170.4

120.4
0
0
120.7
0
0
121.3
(0
121.5
121.8
121.8
121.8

0
0)
165.1
0
0)
165.9
(0
0
165.0
(0
0
162.9

0
0)
114.1
0
0
114.6
0
0
115.0
0
0
115.8

179.5
0
0
178.6
0
0
176.1
0
0
174.7
0
0

133.1
0
0
133.5
0
0
134.1
0
0)
135.9
0
0

Not available.




0

Rent

26

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

T able

B—1:

Consumers’ 'price index for moderate-income families: Adjusted all-items and rent indexes, United States and 34
cities, by year 1940-49 , and by month, 1947-49— Continued
[1935-39=100]
Richmond

St. Louis

San Francisco

Savannah

Scranton

Washington,
D. C.

Seattle

Period
All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

All
items

Rent

1940...................................................
1941___________________________
1942............... ........................ ..........
1943..____________ _____________
1944__................................................
1945______ _____________________
1946................................................ .
1947..-................................... ..........
1948_____________ ______________
1949................................ .............

99.0
104.2
115.7
121.7
122.7
125.4
134.2
156.4
168.4
167.0

102.9
103.5
104.6
104.1
104.1
104.5
106.0
110.7
122.6
129.8

99.6
104.8
116.1
122.5
124.3
126.6
137.5
159.5
171.5
169.6

101.5
102.1
106.4
106.4
106.5
106.5
107.0
110.9
119.3
122.6

100.4
105.9
118.7
126.6
129.8
133.3
144.1
163.3
174.9
174.5

103.7
104.4
106.2
107.3
108.6
109.0
109.4
112.7
118.8
121.6

100.6
106.9
120.9
131.5
135.2
138.1
148.8
169.2
180.4
176.9

104.7
108.4
116.6
120.4
124.3
125.5
125.6
127.2
133.3
137.7

98.6
103.3
114.1
121.4
123.2
126.6
138.2
160.7
170.1
167.9

98.1
98.3
98.1
97.4
97.2
97.9
102.0
103.2
107.8
111.8

101.7
107.8
121.3
128.2
130.1
133.2
143.4
162.1
175.6
174.9

106.7
111.6
116.1
114.8
117.6
118.1
119.5
124.1
134.2
141.0

99.7
104.4
115.7
123.0
124.8
128.6
139.7
157.9
167.5
167.3

100.2
101.0
101.5
102.0
102.6
102.9
103.4
104.6
108.1
113.1

1947: January____ _______________
February_____ ____________
March___ _________________
April------ --------------------------May.......... ............. ....... .........
June........ ......... ............ ..........
July.........................................
August____________________
September_________________
October_____ ______ _______
November_________________
December__________________

0
0)
153.3
0)
0
153.1
154.3
0
0)
162.3
0)
0)

0)
0
0)
0
0)
107.9
0)
0)
0)
115.2
0
0)

151.3
152.0
156.0
155.3
154.8
155.8
0
0
165.7
0)
0
168.2

0
0
0
0)
0)
107.7
0
0)
114.6
(0
0)
117.0

159.8
158.9
160.8
161.8
161.0
159.8
0
0
166 3
0
0
169.5

0
110.0
0
0)
0
0
0
0
114.0
0)
0)
116.0

163.8
164.0
168.2
167.8
167.1
167.4
167.5
0
0
173.2
0
0

125.8
0
0
0
0)
0)
127.0
0)
0)
128.3
0
0

0
0
157.3
0
0
159.9
0)
162.8
0
0
165.2
0

0
0)
101.6
0
0
0)
0
103.6
0
0
150.3
0

156.8
156.6
159.4
160.3
159.8
159.6
0
163.2
0
0
167.7
0)

0)
0
120.9
0
0)
0)
0)
124.1
0
0
129.2
0)

152.9
152.3
155.5
155.6
155.4
156.8
0
159.9
0
0
162.5
0

0)
104.0
0
0
0)
0)
0
104.6
0
0
105.4
0)

1948: January----- ----------- ---------February.......... ......................
March................ .....................
April..................... ..................
May______________________
June___ ____ _ __________
July________ ______________
August____________________
September_________________
October.____ ___ ___________
November_________________
December__________________

166.0
0)
0)
164.6
0
0)
170.5
0)
0)
171.9
0)
0)

117.8
0)
0)
120.2
0)
0)
123.3
0)
0
125.9
0)
0)

0
0)
168.1
0)
0)
172.4
0
0)
175.3
0
0
171.4

0)
0)
117.4
0)
0)
118.2
0
0)
121.5
0
0
121.7

0
0
172.1
0
0
174.9
0
0)
177.9
0
0
177.5

0
(0
117.4
0
0)
118.9
0
0
119.9
0)
0
120.8

177.5
0)
0)
179.8
0
0
182.6
0
0
181.1
0)
0)

130.2
0
0)
131.7
0
0
133.4
0
0
135.8
0
0

0
166.5
0
0)
170.2
0)
0
174.8
0)
0)
169.5
0

0
106.3
0
0)
107.0
0
0
108.5
0
KO
109.4
0)

0
172.3
O
0
176.1
0)
0)
178.1
0)
0)
176.3
0)

0
131.8
0)
0
133.2
0)
0
135.0
0)
0)
136.9
0

0
164.1
0)
0)
167.7
0
0
170.3
0
0
168.3
0

0
106.6
0
0)
107.5
0)
0
108.5
0)
0
109.6
0)

1949: January...... .............................
February__________________
March...................... .............
April............................ ............
May______ ________________
June_______ _______________
July............... ............ ..............
August_______________ ____
September____ ____________
October_____ ______ _______
November____ ____________
December......................... .......

168.6
0)
0
166.5
0)
0)
166.8
0)
(0
167.5
0)
(0

127.8
0)
0
129.0
0)
0)
130.0
0
0)
131.0
0)
0

0
0
169.4
0)
0)
170.2
0
0
169.4
0
0)
168.3

0)
0
122.0
0)
0)
122.4
0
0)
122.9
0)
0)
123.6

0)
0
175.4
0
0)
174.5
0)
0
173.9
0)
0)
172.4

0
0)
121.2
0
(0
121.6
0
0
121.8
0
0
122.3

179.5
0
0)
177.8
0
0)
176.3
0
0
176.5
0

136.7
0
0
137.1
0
0)
137.7
(0
0
138.3
0)
0)

0
166.9
0
0
168.5
0)
0)
169.6
0
0)
166.4
0

0
110.8
0
0)
111.8
0
0)
112.2
0
0
112.5
0

0
176.5
0
0)
175.0
0
0
173.5
0
0
174.5
0

0
138.9
0
0
140.1
0
0
141.8
0)
0
143.3
0

0
165.6
0
0
167.1
(0
0
168.0

0
110.9

168.5
0

116.1
0)

Not available.




1

0)

0)
0)

0)
0)

112.2
0
0
113.4
0)

0)

27

APPENDIXES

Appendix C
T

able

C—1 : Consumers’ price index for moderate-income fam ilies: Adjusted all-items and group indexes, United States and 84
cities , by month, 1950-A pril 1951
[1935-39=100]

Period

All
items

Food Appara

Rent

Fuel,
elec­ Housefurtricity,
and re­ nishings
frigera­
tion

Mis­
cella­
neous

Period

All
items

L A R G E C IT IE S (N A T IO N A L A V E R A G E )

Food Apparel Rent

B IR M I N G H A M , ALA .

1950: Average..
Jan.15__
Feb. IS...
Mar. 15. _
Apr. 15-.May 15—
June 15—_
July 15.-_
Aug. 15—
Sept. 15. _
Oct. 15__
Nov. 15__
Dec. 15--.

171.9
168.2
167.9
168.4
168.5
169.3
170.2
172.0
173.4
174.6
175.6
176.4
178.8

204.4
196.0
194.9
196.6
197.3
199.8
203.1
208.2
209.9
210.0
210.6
210.8
216.3

187.7
185.0
184.9
185.1
184.9
184.7
184.6
184.5
185.7
189.8
193.0
194.3
195.5

131.0
129.4
129.7
129.8
130.1
130.6
130.9
131.3
131.6
131.8
132.0
132.5
132.9

140.6
140.0
140.1
140.3
140.3
138.8
139.1
139.4
140.2
141.2
142.0
142.5
142.8

190.2
184.7
185.2
185.3
185.4
185.0
184.8
186.1
189.1
194.2
198.7
201.1
203.2

156.5
155.1
155.1
155.0
154.7
155.1
154.6
155.2
156.8
157.8
158.3
159.2
160.6

1950: Average __
Jan.15__
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15—.
Apr. 15__
May 15—
June 15—
July 15—
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15 _
Oct. 15—
Nov. 15_ _
Dec. 15—

174.6
169.0
168.2
170.0
169.9
170.5
171.6
175.4
176.8
179.7
179.3
180.8
183.9

196.5
186.4
183.0
189.2
189.9
191.8
192.2
199.8
201.5
206.4
202.7
203.0
212.3

196.8
194.8
194.9
194.4
194.5
194.1
193.5
193.8
195.0
198.3
200.7
202.7
204.3

171.6
156.8
157.5
157.5
157.6
157.6
168.8
183.1
184.4

1951: Jan. 15—
Feb. 15—
Mar. 15—
Apr. 15--_

181.5
183.8
184.5
184.6

221.9
226.0
226.2
225.7

198.5
202.0
203.1
203.6

133.2
134.0
134.7
135.1

143.3
143.9
144.2
144.0

207.4
209.7
210.7
211.8

162.1
163.2
164.3
164.6

1951: Jan. 15....
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15-_
Apr. 15--_

188.2
189.8
190.6
189.9

219.8
220.8
220.5
218.3

210.7
213.3
215.0
215.1

A T L A N T A , GA.
1950: Average._ 175.5
Jan. 15__
0)
Feb. 15__ 170.8
Mar. 15 __
0)
Apr. 15__
0)
May 15— 171.7
June 15—
0)
July 15—
0)
Aug. 1 5 - 177.9
Sept. 15—
0)
Oct. 15—
0)
Nov. 1 5 - 180.7
Dec. 15—
0)
1951: Jan. 15. __
0)
Feb. 15-.. 187.5
Mar. 15—
0)
Apr. 15-.
0)

201.4
192.5
190.1
195.6
194.1
193.2
195.4
202.0
210.1
210.2
208.6
208.3
217.0
223.4
224.0
224.1
228.5

196.0
0)
191.9
0)
0)
191.3
0)
0)
195.6

0)
0)

143.3
0)
142.8

0)
0)

143.6

0)

0)
143.7

0)
0)

204.3
0)

144.8

0)
211.2

0)
146.4
0)
0)

0)

0)

0)

176.8
0)
0)
172.9
0)
(0
174.7
(0
0)
180.6
0)
0)
183.1

215.3
206.6
205.0
207.1
207.0
210.0
215.6
220.4
222.0
221.8
221.2
220.5
226.4

0)
179.0
0)
0)
185.0
(l)
0)
188.6

134.4
C1)
0)
135.1
0)
0)
135.5

1951: Jan. 15. __
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15 __
Apr. 15-_-

0)
0)
188.6
(9

231.8
237.1
236.8
236.2

0)
0)
197.6
0)

0)
135.9
0)

1 Not available.




182.4

0)
0)

179.4

0)

133.3
(0
(0
134.0
0)

0)

0)

188.2
0)

135.3
135.5
135.5
136.8
133.2
133.3
133.5
133.6
135.1
135.1
137.3
137.3
137.6

182.7
177.8
178.8
178.9
179.0
178.5
177.3
179.1
181.1
188.9
189.2
190.4
193.1

151.2
150.0
150.0
150.0
149.7
150.1
149.8
149.5
150.8
152.3
152.9
154.5
154.8

(0
192.8
0)
0)

137.6
138.6
138.6
137.9

196.6
198.4
200.3
200.2

157.8
158.7
160.2
160.2

154.7
155.1
153.3
153.4
152.7
149.9
151.8
152.7
153.5
156.4
158.1
159.5
159.7

181.6
177.7
177.5
178.4
176.9
176.4
175.9
177.0
181.7
181.9
191.4
191.8
192.5

154.1
153. 3
153.0
153.3
153.2
153.5
153.2
152. 9
153.9
154.5
155. 4
155.9
156.8

159.7
160.0
161.1
161.1

197.7
199.5
199.3
201.8

157.7
158.3
159.0
158.6

189.8
183.0
(1}
(0
184.1
(0
0)
185.4
0)
0)
198.8
(0
0)

159.6
157.1
0)
(0
157.8
(1?
0)
159.0
0)
(0
161.1
0)
(0

206.1
(\>
0)
211.3

166.8
0)
0)
168.5

0)
0)

B O ST O N , :M ASS.
154.2
155.4
155.3
155.4
155.3
153.1
153.0
153.1
153.6
153.4
154.3
154.4
154.6
154.4
155.9
156.1
155.5

193.3

0)

186.5
0)
0)
187.2

0)
0)

161.7
0)
159.7
0)
0)
159.7

0)

194.6
0)
0)
204.0

0)
161.5
0)
0)
165.6
(0

0)
210.0
0)
0)

168.5
0)
0)

0)

0)

1950: Average._
Jan.15__
Feb. 15__
Mar. 15. _
Apr. 15_
May 15—
June 15__
July 15—
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15. _
Oct. 15—
Nov. 15._
Dec. 15—

166.1
162.4
161. 9
162. 9
163.0
163. 6
165.5
167.1
168.1
168.2
169.5
169.7
171. 2

195.6
186.6
185.4
187.9
188.6
190.6
196.1
202.0
202.9
200.1
201.9
201. 5
204.1

177.2
174.9
175.0
175.3
174.9
175.2
176.1
174.6
175.7
180.2
180.6
181.2
182.3

125.6

1951: Jan. 15__.
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15_ _
Apr. 15-_-

173. 5
175.5
175.8
175.5

209.1
213.8
213.3
212.8

184.4
187.1
187.2
186.4

126.3
0)

B A L T IM O R E , M D .
1950: Average. .
Jan. 15-__
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15-_
Apr. 15—
May 15—
June 15—_
July 15—
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15-_
Oct. 15—
Nov. 15. _
Dec. 15—

Fuel,
elec­ House- Mis­
furtricity,
cella­
and re­ nish- neous
ings
frigera­
tion

123. 6
122.4
122.7
123.2
123.2
123.6
123.9
123.9
124.2
124.4

0)
0)

0)

0)

B U F F A L O , N. Y .
149.4
151.5
151.1
151.1
150.0
148.2
149.0
149.7
150.7
152.5
145.4
146.4
146.8
146.8
147.6
148.8
148.8

155. 7

202.0

161.3

1950: Average. _ 171.1
Jan.15__ 166.6
Feb. 1 5 0)
Mar. 15. _ 0)
Apr. 15.
167.4
May 15-.
0)
June 15—
0)
July 15— 171.5
Aug. 1 5 0)
Sept. 15.0)
Oct. 15— 174.1
Nov. 15—_ 0)
Dec. 15—
0)

0)
0)
211.7

0)
0)
163.8
0)

1951: Jan. 15___
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15-_
Apr. 15--_

192.5
C1)

0)

189.3
0)

0)

185.6
(])
0)
196.0

0)
0)

0)

(0
0)
152.9
0)
0)
152.1
(1)
(9
159.3
0)

0)

180.8
0)
(0
183.3

198.7
189.8
189.4
191.6
192.3
193.9
199.0
204.9
203.5
202.6
204.0
205.7
207.5

175.8
0)
0)
187.0
0)
0)

0)

0)
135.7
(0
0)
135.9
0)
0)

148.2
146.5
146.5
147.3
147.4
146.7
147.5
147. 7
148.1
149.2
149.8
150.3
150.8

215.5
217.9
219.6
218.0

193.2
0)
0)
200.1

136.9
0)
0)
137.2

152.1
153.8
153.8
153.5

181.1
179.8
0)
0)
177.0
0)

135.5
134.8

0)
0)

135.1

0)

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

28
T able

C - l : Consum ers1 price index for moderate-income fam ilies: Adjusted all-items and'group indexes / United States and 8 4
cities, by month , 1 9 5 0 -A p r il 1951 — Continued
[1 9 3 5 -3 9 = 1 0 0 ]

Period

All
items

Food

Apparel

Rent

Fuel,
elec­
tricity,
and re­
frigera­
tion

Housefurnishings

M is­
cella­
neous

Period

All
items

Food

Apparel

Rent

Fuel,
elec­
tricity,
and re­
frigera­
tion

Housefurnishings

M is­
cella­
neous

D E N V E R , COLO.

C H IC A G O , IL L .
1950: Average..
Jan. 1 5 -_ .
Feb. 1 5 ...
M ar. 15
Apr. 1 5 ...
M a y 15—
June 15.. _
July 1 5 .._
Aug. 1 5 ...
Sept. 15. _
Oct. 1 5 . ..
N ov. 15_ _
Dec. 1 5 ...

176.7
172.8
172.4
173.0
172.9
174. 5
175.1
177.3
179.0
179.5
180.3
180.6
183.4

209.4
199.9
198.6
201.1
201.1
206.0
208.4
214.8
217.0
214.7
215.0
214.8
221.6

192.4
190.0
189.3
189.1
188.6
18,9.4
189.7
190.1
191.8
195.3
197.4
198.9
199.0

145.0
144.0
144.5
144.6
144.7
144.6
144.7
145.3
145.6
145.9
0)
0)
146.6

135.1
134.3
135.0
135.3
135.5
134.0
134.0
134.0
134.9
135.0
136.3
136.3
136.5

175.1
169.4
169.7
169.1
170.6
170.6
169.3
170.6
173.1
181.2
184.8
185.0
187.3

159.4
159.0
159.0
158.4
157.8
157.9
157.5
157.4
159.0
160.6
161.4
161.9
163.0

1950: Average. .
J a n .15-__
Feb. 1 5 M ar. 15—
Apr. 1 5 M a y 15—
June 15—
July 15-__
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 1 5 ..
Oct. 1 5 - ..
N ov. 15. .
Dec. 15__

173.7
168.8
0)
0)
169.7
0)
0)
172.6
0)
0)
178.1
0)
0)

207.6
196.8
196.6
199.0
199.0
203.0
205.9
209.6
214.8
212.2
215.1
216.0
223.6

185.8
181.3
0)
0)
179.2
0)
0)
179.7
0)
0)
196.2
0)
0)

152.5
150.8
0)
0)
151.7
0)
0)
152.4
0)
0)
152.7
0)
0)

112.5
112.2
112.2
112.5
112.4
112.4
112.4
112.4
112.4
112.4
112.5
113.1
113.1

215.0
205.3
0)
0)
206.7
0)
0)
206.1
0)
0)
229.5
0)
0)

152.0
149.9
0)
0)
151.0
0)
0)
151.2
0)
0) „
153.4
0)
0)

1951: Jan. 15. _ .
Feb. 1 5 ...
M ar. 15. _
Apr. 15. _.

185.4
188.5
189.1
189.1

225.1
232.9
231.6
231.1

202.3
204.6
205.2
206.0

0)
0)
148.4
0)

137.5
138.2
138.3
138.4

194.0
195.7
197.3
198.7

163.6
164.1
166.2
166.3

1951: Jan. 1 5 . . .
Feb. 1 5 M ar. 15-.
Apr. 15—

184.9
0)
0)
187.0

227.8
229.0
230.5
229.9

200.9
0)
0)
203.1

159.2
0)
0)
161.2

113.3
113.7
113.7
113.8

241.5
0)
0)
245.5

156. 9
0)
0)
158.9

D E T R O IT , M IC H .

C IN C IN N A T I, O H IO
1950: Average- J a n .1 5 . . .
Feb. 1 5 ...
M ar. 15_ _
Apr. 1 5 ...
M a y 15—
June 15—.
July 1 5 --.
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15. _
Oct. 1 5 - ..
N ov. 15_ _
Dec. 15__.

172.2
168.5
168.1
168.6
168.1
169.7
170.5
172.0
173.9
175.9
176.1
176.1
178.4

206.2
197.4
197.0
198.2
197.7
202.0
205.1
210.2
213.2
214.2
212.6
210.7
215.9

186.6
185.1
183.3
183.6
182.8
182.3
182.1
182.0
183.1
193.5
192.4
193.3
195.1

121.2
120.9
121.0
121.1
120.9
121.0
121.4
121.4
121.7
121.9
0)
0)
122.9

149.4
149.5
150.2
151.6
150.7
146.9
146.8
146.8
149.1
149.1
150.5
150.5
150.7

180.2
177.1
175.7
177.3
175.5
176.1
175.5
176.1
179.7
183.1
186.6
189.7
190.6

156.6
154.8
154.7
154.6
154.4
155.9
155.6
155.4
156.9
157.6
159.0
159.8
160.7

1950: Average._
Jan. 1 5 . ..
Feb. 1 5 M ar. 15. .
Apr. 1 5 M a y 15—
June 15—
July 1 5 --.
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15. .
Oct. 1 5 . ..
N ov. 15. _
Dec. 15—

174.5
169.7
169.5
170.1
170.7
172.1
173.5
175.0
175.9
177.5
179.1
179.8
181.3

203.5
191.8
190.8
192.8
194.9
198.7
202.9
208.0
208.8
209.7
212.5
213.5
217.2

183.5
181.3
180.9
181.1
181.0
181.4
181.3
180.8
181.5
185.3
187.7
189.3
190.0

136.3
135.7
135.8
135.6
135.7
135.7
135.7
136.3
136.4
0)
137.0
0)
0)

150.6
149.4
150.0
151.1
151.4
148.5
148.1
148.2
149.5
150.8
152.8
153.6
153.9

205.5
195.5
196.9
197.3
198.2
197.7
198.2
202.3
209.2
217.0
216.9
218.1
218.5

168.1
166.3
166.3
166.2
166.2
167.4
168.0
167.7
167.8
169.1
170.1
170.5
171.5

1951: Jan. 1 5 ._ .
Feb. 1 5 ...
M ar. 15—
Apr. 15. __

182.3
183.9
184.4
184.6

223.7
226.9
225.8
226.0

200.9
203.6
204.8
204.6

0)
0)
124.3
0)

150.8
150.8
151.2
151.1

194.1
198.4
200.5
200.8

162.8
162.9
164.0
164.2

1951: Jan. 15. __
Feb. 15 —
M ar. 15. .
Apr. 15__

184.2
186.2
187.0
186.7

223.7
228.3
228.8
227.3

192.6
195.5
196.1
196.0

137.8
0)
0)
138.2

154.1
154.1
153.9
154.8

223.4
225.9
227.8
228.6

172.6
173.3
174. 8
174.7

C L E V E L A N D , O H IO

H O U S T O N ,, T E X .

1950: Average
J a n .1 5 . . .
Feb. 1 5 M ar. 15. _
Apr. 1 5 M a y 1 5 ...
June 15—
July 1 5 ...
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15_.
Oct. 1 5 - ..
N ov. 1 5 Dec. 15—

174.6
0)
170.3
0)
J0)
ill. l
0)
0)
176.5
0)
0)
179.6
0)

211.4
202.6
201.7
201.8
203.1
205.7
211.2
216.6
218.3
217.5
219.1
217.8
220.9

187.4
0)
183.4
0)
0)
182.5
0)
0)
186.3
0)
0)
196.4
0)

138.8
0)
137.7
0)
0)
138.6
0)
0)
139.0
0)
0)
140.6
0)

148.5
148.2
148.4
148.9
149.0
147.4
147.4
147.4
147.7
148.4
149.1
150.0
150.0

173.0
0)
168.4
0)
0)
167.9
0)
0)
170.8
0)
0)
183.8
0)

153.3
0)
151.4
0)
0)
151.0
0)
0)
154.1
0)
0)
156.2
0)

1950: Average __
J a n .15.
F e b .15__
M ar. 15—
Apr. 1 5 M a y 15—
June 15—
July 1 5 ...
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15. _
Oct. 1 5 - ..
N ov. 15. _
Dec. 15—

178.7
175.5
175.0
175.9
175.1
175.3
175.8
177.5
180.6
182.2
182.3
183.0
186.1

214.5
207.7
206.0
209.2
206.6
206.3
208.1
212.8
221.9
223.3
222.3
222.1
227.5

200.0
196.7
196.2
196.1
195.8
195.2
194.8
195.2
197.8
205.5
206.8
208.5
211.0

162.6
159.2
160.2
160.2
160.6
162.0
163.5
165.0
165.0
0)
0)
165.7
0)

98.6
98.9
98.9
98.6
98.6
98.6
98.6
98.6
98.6
98.6
98.6
98.6
98.6

186.6
186.3
184.6
184.3
182.4
183.4
183.3
184.0
187.0
188.7
189.8
192.3
193.0

159.0
157.6
157.5
157.8
157.8
158.2
157.9
158.4
159.0
159.5
159.7
160.6
164.1

1951: Jan. 1 5 - . .
Feb. 1 5 M ar. 15—
Apr. 15—

0)
186.2
0)
0)

227.4
232.7
233.3
231.8

0)
203.2
0)
0)

0)
143.3
0)
0)

150.0
150.0
150.0
150.0

0)
190.9
0)
0)

0)
158.6
0)
0)

1951: Jan. 1 5 . ..
Feb. 1 5 M ar. 15. .
Apr. 15__

190.1
191.0
192.4
192.5

236.0
235.6
238.5
238.3

216.8
218.6
219.8
220.5

0)
167.4
0)
0)

98.6
98.6
98.6
98.6

200.1
202.9
205.3
206.3

165.6
166.5
167.2
167.3

1 N ot available.




29

APPENDIXES
T able

C - l : Consum ers1 price index fo r moderate-income fam ilies: Adjusted all-items and group indexes , United States and 84
cities , by month , 1 9 5 0 -A p ril 1951 — Continued
[1935-39=100]

Period

All
items

Food Apparel Rent

Fuel,
elec­ Housefurtricity,
and re­ nishfrigera­
ings
tion

Mis­
cella­
neous

Period

All
items

IN D IA N A P O L IS , IN D .
1950: Average. _ 175.1
Jan. 15__ 171.2
Feb. 15__
0)
Mar. 15
0)
Apr. 15. __ 171.4
May 15-_.
0)
June 15.
0)
July 15__ 174.4
Aug. 15...
0)
Sept. 15...
0)
Oct. 15..._ 178.9
Nov. 15—_ 0)
Dec. 15--.
C1)

201.5
192.3
191.2
192.7
193.3
196.1
198.1
203.4
2C8.8
210.3
208.6
208.8
214.9

1951: Jan. 15—
Feb. 15...
Mar. 15__.
Apr. 15-.-

218.6
220.6
222.1
222.4

184.4
(0
0)
187.7

184.7
138.7
181.9 1 136.8
' (0
0)
CO
(0
181.4
137.9
(0
(0

180.1
(0
(0

190.4
(0

(0

(0
(0

138.7
(0
(0

140.0
(0

(0

196.2
141.1
(0
(0
(0
’ (0
198.7 *~142.1

LOS A N G E L E S , C A L IF .

162.3 180.8
162.8 174.4
163.7
(0
164.6
(0
163.2 177.6
160.1
(0
159.9
(0
159.9 179.3
161.1
CO
160.9
CO
163.8 • 184.7
163.8
(0
163.8
(0
163.9
163.9
162.0
162.0

195.2
CO
(0
198. 2

(0

1950: Average. _
Jan. 15__
Feb.15—
Mar. 15—.
Apr. 15—
May 15—
June 15—
July 15— .
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15—
Oct. 15—.
Nov. 1 5 Dec. 15—

171.7
169.4
168.9
169.1
169.5
169.5
169.3
170.1
172.1
173.2
174.8
176.2
178.5

205.5
201.4
198.9
199.5
201.6
201.3
201.6
204.4
208.6
207.8
210.9
212.1
218.0

183.8
180.7
182.3
183.5
183.1
182.2
182.0
182.0
182.2
184.1
185.7
187.8
189.5

168.4
(0
CO
173.3

1951: Jan. 15—
Feb.15--.
Mar. 15—.
Apr. 15---

181.3
184.1
185.6
185.6

226.3
226.9
229.8
228.9

191.3
196.9
201.0
201.1

163.0
161.9
(0
(0

<
160.7

(0
(0

162.1

(0

CO
165.1
(0

1951: Jan. 15— .
Feb. 15...
Mar. 15—
Apr. 15--.

179.0
0)
(0
175.6
0)
(?)

176.3
(?)
(0

181.7
0)
(0
185.6
x1)

0)

190.4
0)

209.5
200.7
199.0
202.3
201.5
202.8
205.8
211.4
218.1
219.1
215.2
215.3
223.1
229.0
231.5
234.8
234.3

187.8
(0
(0

185.1
(0
(0

184.0
(0
(0

190.8
(0
(0

193.9
(0
(0

197.8
(0

KAN SAS
1950: Average. _ 166.5
Jan. 15__
162.5
Feb.15--.
0)
Mar. 15—_ 0 )
Apr. 15— 163.2
r
May 15—.
(?)
June 15—
0)
July 15—
166.9
Aug. 15—
0)
Sept. 15—
0)
Oct. 15—
169.0
Nov. 15—_ 0 )
Dec. 15--.
0)

191.2
183.6
182.8
183.5
184.7
187.2
189.2
195.0
194.9
195.8
196.2
198.1
203.2

1951: Jan. 15—
Feb.15--.
Mar. 15—
Apr. 15--_

208.5
210.5
211.6
212.4

175.6
0)
0)

178.5

1 N ot available.




147.4
(0
(0

146.8
(0
(0

147.3
(0

CO
148.1
(0
(0

149.3
(0
(0

151.6
(0

148.6
148.2
148.4
148.6
148.0
148.0
147.9
147.9
147.9
148.8
148.8
149.5
151.2
153.0
153.4
143.4
143.4

188.0
(0
(0

181.9
CO
(0

181.9
(0
(0

191.1
CO
(0

204.0
CO

163.9
(0
CO
162.9
CO
(0

162.6
CO
(0

163.8

(0
(0

167.5

CO

(0

(0

(0

CO

208.0

170.2

1950: Average
Jan. 15__
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15—
Apr. 1 5 May 15—
June 15—
July 15__
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15—
Oct. 1 5 Nov. 1 5 Dec. 15—

172.2
168.0

(0

(0
178.3
(0
(0

178.9
(0
(0

187.8
(0
(0

194.0
(0
(0

198.9

141.0
138.7
'0
(0

140.5
(0
(0
141.5
(0

(0
142.3
(0
(0

142.5
(0
(0

144.0

150.2
0)

98.5
95.1
98.8
98.8
98.8
98.8
98.8
98.8
98.8
98.8
98.7
98.7
98.7

186.8
183.6
184.6
184.3
184.1
183.6
182.1
181.7
183.6
188.3
191.9
195.9
197.6

154.2
154.4
153.6
153.1
152.4
152.3
151.8
151.6
153.3
155.3
156.2
157.5
158.5

0)
159.4
(0
0)

98.7
98.7
98.7
98.7

199.9
201.6
202.3
203.8

159.5
160.7
161.5
161.7

154.3
154.8
152.5
152.3
151.3
150.4
151.9
152.2
152.1
156.0
156.6
160.0
161.3

197.6
192.8
C1)
C1)
195.0
C1)
C1)
194.0
0)

150.4
149.1
C1)
0)
149.2
0)
0)
149.6
0)
0)
151.8

162.2
162.2
162.4
162.2

210.6

0)
0)

1951: Jan. 15— .
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15—
Apr. 15-.-

179.9
176.2

CO

200.9
191.6
190.4
193.3
192.6
196.2
200.6
206.3
207.3
206.2
208.8
207.4
210.1

C1)

C1)
0)

180.6
(0
CO
182.9

215.1
218.9
217.6
217.8

188.9

126.7

0)
0)

0)
C1)

(0

CO
168.0
(0

CO
172.1
(0
(0

176.6
(0

0)

123.7
122.1
C1)
C1)
122.5

0)

C1)
123.9

0)
174.9
0)
175.1
0)

0)
189.2
0)

193.4

0)

0)
0)

124.7

128.1

0)

202.4
C1)
0)

0)
0)

C1)

0)

155.3
C1)
C1)

214.6

156.7

174.2
(0

145.0

M E M P H IS , T E N N .

C IT Y , M O .

182.1
178. 2

146.9
141.8
142.7
143.6
145.3
146.7
146.9
147.9
149.0

M A N C H E S T E R , N. H.

J A C K S O N V IL L E , F L A .

1950: Average. _
Jan. 15__
Feb. 15-.Mar. 15—
Apr. 15...
May 15—
June 15...
July 15—.
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15—
Oct. 15__
Nov. 15—
Dec. 15—

Food Apparel Rent

Fuel,
elec­ House- Mis­
furtricity,
cella­
and re­ nish- neous
ings
frigera­
tion

127.9
126.2
125.9
126.0
126.9
127.1
127.3
130.2
128.6
129.3
129.4
128.8
128.6
129.4
128.9
130. 4
130.1

180.7
176.1
CO
(0

178.2
CO
CO
178.0
CO
(0

156.8
155.0
CO

(0

154.9
CO
CO
156.8
(0
(0

185.3
CO

157.5
CO
CO

191.1
CO
(0
197.2

(0
(0

(0

163.9
165.7

1950: Average—
Jan.15__
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15—
Apr. 1 5 May 15—
June 15—
July 15__
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15—
Oct. 15—
Nov. 1 5 Dec. 15—
1951: Jan. 15—
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15—
Apr. 15...

175.9
CO
CO
172.8
CO
(0
172.7
CO
CO
179.2
CO
(0

182.7
CO
(0

186.5
(0

212.1
203.1
202.9
204.8
203.4
205.8
208.3
213.6
219.4
221.5
220.1
218.3
224.0
227.6
230.8
233.8
232.9

206.8
0)
C1)

204.0
C1)
C1)

202.8
0)

C1)
210.6
C1)

0)
213.2
0)
0)

148.3
0)
C1)

148.9
C1)

0)

149.7
C1)

0)
150.1
0)
0)

151.1
0)
0)

217.0

154.4

0)

C1)

140.7
140.3
140.3
140.5
140.5
140.5
140.5
140.5
140.5
141.2
141.2
141.2
141.5
141.4
141.5
141.5
141.4

0)

171.5
0)
0)

172.0
0)
0)

176.6
C1)
C1)

180.4
0)
C1)

183.4
0)

C1)

0)
143.8
0)
0)
141.3
0)
0)

145.7
0)
0)

150.9
0)
C1)

151.3
0)

30

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

-T a b l e

C - l : Consum ers1 price index for moderate-income fam ilies: Adjusted all-items and group indexes, United States and 3 4
cities, by month, 1950—A p ril 1951 — Continued
[1 9 3 5 -3 9 = 1 0 0 ]

P e r io d

A ll
ite m s

Food

A p parel

R ent

M IL W A U K E E ,

1950: A v e r a g e .. .
J a n . 15___
F eb. 1 5 ...
M a r . 1 5 ...
A p r. 1 5 ...
M a y 1 5 .__
Jun e 1 5 -..
J u l y 15___
A u g . 1 5 ...
S e p t . 1 5 ._ .
O ct . 15— _
N o v . 15—
D e c . 15.

1 7 4 .6

1 7 2 .0
0
0
1 7 6 .6
0
0
1 8 0 .3
0

1 8 8 .2
0)
1 85 .4
0
0
1 84 .0
0

1 4 3 .6
(■)
1 3 9 .2
0
0
140 .9

0)

0
1 45 .2
0

0)

0)

1 97 .0
0

1 4 9 .0
0

1951: J a n . 15— .
F eb . 1 5 ...
M a r . 15—
A p r. 1 5 ...

0)
1 8 7 .5
0
0

2 1 9 .6
2 27 .4
2 2 6 .9
2 2 4 .8

0
2 0 3 .3
0)
0

15 8 .0
0)
0

(0

0)

1 8 5 .6
0

0)

M IN N E A P O L IS ,

H ou sefu r n is h in g s

M is ­
c e lla ­
n eous

P e rio d

A ll
ite m s

W IS .

2 0 6 .8
1 9 6 .3
1 9 6 .4
1 99 .0
1 9 8 .9
2 0 4 .2
2 0 6 .6
2 1 2 .7
2 1 3 .7
2 1 2 .3
2 12 .3
2 1 3 .0
2 1 6 .3

(0
1 6 8 .6
0)

F u e l,
e le c ­
t r ic it y ,
a n d re ­
frig e ra ­
t io n

F ood

N E W

1 4 5 .7
1 45 .4
145 .9
1 45 .7
1 4 6 .8
143 .4
1 43 .4
1 43 .8
1 44 .7
145 .3
147 .2
1 47 .4
1 48 .9

1 9 1 .6
0)
1 85 .8
0)
0)
1 85 .9
0)

14 8 .7
1 4 9 .7
1 5 0 .8
1 5 0 .8

0)
2 10 .5
0
0)

1 5 1 .6
0)
146 .9

0)
<■>
1 5 0 .6

0)

0)

0
153.1

1 8 9 .3

0)

0)

0
1 5 5 .5
0

0)
2 0 5 .0

0)

0)
1 57 .6
0)

0)

1950: A v e r a g e . .
J a n . 15___
Feb. 1 5 M ar. 15. _
A p r . 15. _ .
M a y 1 5 ...
J u n e 15—
J u l y 1 5 ___
A u g . 1 5 ...
S ep t. 1 5 . _
O ct. 1 5 . . .
N o v . 15—.*
D e c . 1 5 . ._
1951: J a n . 1 5 _ _ .
F e b . 15___
M a r . 1 5 -_
A p r. 1 5 ...

177.1

A p parel

1 9 9 .5
0
1 9 8 .8
0

180 .1
0
0
1 8 7 .9
0
0

2 37 .8
239 .8
242.1
2 4 0 .2

0)

N E W

M IN N .

R en t

O R L E A N S ,

2 1 6 .9
2 0 9 .6
2 0 7 .4
2 0 9 .8
21 1 .3
2 1 0 .8
2 12 .9
2 1 8 .5
227 .0
2 2 5 .2
2 21 .5
2 2 0 .7
2 28 .2

0)

1 7 3 .5
0
0
1 74 .4
0
0
17 9 .6
0

F u e l,
e le c ­
t r ic i t y ,
a n d re­
frig e ra ­
t io n

H ousefu rn is h in g s

M is ­
c e lla ­
neous

L A .

113.1
113 .1
113.1
113.1
113.1
113.1
113 .1
113.1
113.1
113.1
113.1
11 3 .2
113. 2

192.1
0
1 9 0 .4
0
0
188 .3
0
0
1 91 .0

2 0 3 .2
0)

1 3 2 .2
0)
0
1 3 2 .7
0
0
1 34 .3
0
0
1 3 5 .0
0

0)
209 .1
0
0

0
136.1
0
0)

113. 2
113. 2
1 1 3 .2
1 1 3 .2

0
2 0 5 .6
(0
0

0
1 50 .8

0)
197.1
0
0
1 98 .0
0

0)

Y O R K ,

1 3 3 .0

0)

0)
0
1 97 .7
(0

1 46 .1
0
145.1
0
0
145 .5
0
0
1 45 .0

0)
0)
1 4 8 .6

0)

0)
0

N . Y .

•
1950: A v e r a g e .__
J a n . 1 5 ___
F e b .1 5 ...
M a r . 1 5 ...
A p r . 15.
M a y 15—
June 1 5 ...
J u l y 15___
A ug. 1 5 S e p t . 1 5 . ..
O c t . 15—
N ov. 1 5 D e e . 1 5 ___
1951: J a n . 15—
F e b .1 5 ...
M a r . 15—
A p r. 1 5 ...

1950: A v e r a g e . .
Jan. 1 5 . . .
Feb. 1 5 M ar. 15. _
A p r. 1 5 M a y 15—
J u n e 15—
J u ly 1 5 . ..
A ug. 1 5 S ep t. 1 5 . _
O ct. 1 5 . . .
N ov. 1 5 D e c . 15—
1951: J a n . 1 5 . __
Feb. 1 5 M a r . 15—
A p r . 15.

1 7 0 .9
0
(0
1 6 7 .4

0)
0)
169.1
0

0)

1 7 2 .8

0)
0)

1 7 7 .7
0)
0
1 8 3 .2

0)

1 7 0 .9
0

0)
1 6 7 .4
0

0)
1 6 8 .2
0

0)
173 .9
0

0)
177.1

0)
0)
18 1 .9
0

1 9 5 .2
189.1
1 8 7 .5
1 8 7 .2
187.1
1 9 1 .3
194.1
1 9 6 .8
2 0 0 .7
199.1
2 0 0 .7
202.1
2 0 6 .8
2 1 3 .8
2 1 7 .9
2 1 7 .7
2 1 7 .6

1 9 3 .0
0
0
1 9 0 .5
0

0)
1 9 0 .2
0

0)
1 9 2 .9
0

1 3 9 .2

0)
0
138 .0
0
0
139 .0
0
0
1 40 .0

0)

0)
0)

2 0 2 .6

1 4 2 .5

0)

0

0)

0)

2 08 .0
0

1 44 .4

M O B IL E ,

A L A .

2 0 3 .9
1 96 .4
1 9 4 .8
1 98 .7
1 99 .7
1 9 9 .8
2 0 0 .1
2 0 4 .7
2 1 2 .6
2 1 0 .2
2 0 7 .4
2 0 8 .8
2 1 3 .2

1 9 0 .0
0
0
1 8 7 .2
0
0
1 8 6 .7

2 20 .4
2 2 2 .5
2 2 3 .8
2 2 5 .7

*Not available.




0)

1 4 1 .9
1 4 1 .6
1 4 2 .6
1 4 2 .8
1 42 .8
1 4 2 .8
14 1 .4
13 9 .9
1 4 0 .6
1 4 1 .7
1 4 2 .3
142 .3
14 2 .3
14 2 .3
142 .3
142 .3
1 3 6 .7

1 9 8 .0

136 .6
0
0
139 .7
0
0
1 4 0 .5

1 29 .8
129.1
1 2 9 .7
1 29 .8
1 29 .9
1 29 .7
1 3 0 .2
1 3 0 .2
1 29 .9
1 29 .8
12 9 .7
129 .4
129 .8

0
0
2 0 5 .4
0

0
0
1 42 .7
0)

1 3 0 .0
130 .3
1 3 0 .6
1 3 0 .4

0)
0
192.1
0

0)

136 .7
0
0
1 34 .8
0

0)

1 8 1 .0
0
0
1 7 5 .8
0
0
1 7 6 .6

0)
0)
1 8 3 .5
0
0
1 9 3 .9
0

0)
1 99 .0

0)

16 3 .0
0
0
1 65 .0

1950: A v e r a g e . .
J a n .15—
Feb. 1 5 M ar. 15. _
A p r. 1 5 M a y 15—
J u n e 15—
J u ly 15. _.
Aug. 1 5 S e p t . 1 5 -_
O c t . 1 5 ___
N ov. 1 5 D e c . 15—

1 68 .9
164 .8
165.1
1 65 .5
1 65 .9
166.1
1 6 7 .0
169 .8
169 .7
171 .7
1 72 .4
173 .2
175 .4

2 04 .7
195 .9
195 .9
1 97 .2
198 .7
2 0 0 .3
2 0 3 .7
2 0 9 .2
2 0 7 .2
2 10 .6
2 1 0 .2
211 .3
216.1

1 8 6 .0
18 2 .4
18 2 .5
1 8 2 .6
1 8 3 .6
183.1
1 8 2 .7
1 83 .0
1 83 .9
1 89 .4
1 92 .3
1 92 .4
1 94 .0

1 1 4 .0
113. 9
1 1 3 .9
1 1 3 .9
1 1 3 .9
1 13 .9
1 14 .0
1 1 4 .0
1 14 .0
0
114.1
0
0

1 4 0 .0
1 39 .7
1 3 9 .2
139.1
1 39 .3
1 38 .6
1 3 8 .8
1 3 9 .2
1 3 9 .8
1 4 0 .9
1 4 1 .5
142.1
142.1

179 .6
172 .5
174.1
173.6
174 .2
173 .5
174 .2
176.7
177 .9
184 .3
189.0
191 .7
193 .8

159 .9
1 5 7 .9
1 58 .6
1 58 .6
1 5 8 .0
157 .4
1 57 .2
1 6 0 .0
161.1
161.3
161 .9
162 .9
164.3

0
0
1 6 8 .9
0

1951: J a n . 1 5 . __
F e b . 15___
M ar. 15. _
A p r, 1 5 -..

177 .8
1 8 0 .8
1 80 .4
1 80 .6

221. 0
22 7 .0
224 .7
2 2 4 .9

1 9 5 .6
2 0 0 .6
2 0 1 .5
2 0 1 .8

1 1 4 .5
0

142 .1
1 42 .9
1 4 2 .9
1 42 .9

196 .9
2 0 0 .2
2 0 1 .7
2 0 1 .6

165.9
167 .0
167.6
167 .6

1 6 0 .7
1 5 7 .8
1 59 .9
1 59 .9
1 59 .9
1 59 .9
1 6 0 .3
1 60 .3
1 60 .3
16 1 .3
1 6 2 .6
163.1
163.1

188 .9
0
184.5
0
0
185 .2
0

156 .6
0)
154 .5

1 6 4 .0
164 .6
1 64 .6
1 64 .6

0)
203. 0
0
0)

1 61 .3
0
0
15 9 .5
0
0)
15 9 .0
0

0)

1 79 .7

1 52 .6

1950: A v e r a g e __
J a n . 1 5 ___
Feb. 1 5 M ar. 15. _
A p r. 1 5 M a y 15—
J u n e 15—
J u ly 15. . .
A u g . 15—_
S ep t. 1 5 . _
O ct. 15.
N ov. 1 5 D e c . 15—

(0
(0
1 7 7 .6
0)

0)
0
1 5 4 .6
0

1951: J a n . 1 5 - _ .
Feb. 1 5 M ar. 1 5 -.
A p r . 15—

1 69 .4

(0
0)
1 64 .4

0)
0)
16 5 .0

0)
0)
1 7 2 .9

0)
0)

14 7 .9
0
0
145 .3
(0

0)
14 5 .9
0

(0
1 49 .7
0

(0

N O R F O L K ,

Y A .

1 8 1 .0
0
1 79 .0

1 4 2 .0
0
1 3 6 .4

18 5 .4
0

1 4 2 .5
0
0
14 5 .4
0
0
1 4 6 .0
0

0
1 92 .5
0)
0

0
14 6 .6
0)
0

1 75 .7
0
1 70 .3

0)

2 0 6 .4
19 4 .8
195.1
19 8 .7
199 .1
202 .1
2 0 5 .9
210 .3
2 17 .6
216 .3
2 11 .8
2 10 .8
2 14 .8

0)
187.1
0
0

2 25 .2
231.1
233 .8
2 27 .9

0)
0
17 3 .6

0)
0)
1 78 .8
0

0)
179.3

0)

1 1 5 .0

(1}
0
1 78 .3
0
0
180 .1

0)
0)

0)
0)

0)
188 .6
0
0
196.4
0

0)
0
156 .2
0
0
1 56 .5

0)
0)
1 59 .0
0
0)
161 .2
0)
0)

APPENDIXES
T able

31

C - l : Consum ers ’ price index for moderate-income fa m ilies: Adjusted all-items and groupnindexes, United States and^34
cities , by month , 1 9 5 0 -A p r il 1951 — Continued
[1935-39=100]

P eriod

A ll
item s

Food

A p parel

R ent

F u el,
elec­
tricity,
and re­
frigera­
tion

H ousefurnishings

M is ­
cella­
neous

P eriod

A ll
item s

P H IL A D E L P H IA , PA .

F ood

A p parel

R ent

170.3
166.4
165.9
166.8
166.7
167.4
169.1
170.4
171.8
173.1
173.8
174.1
178.1

201.3
191.3
190.2
193.4
193.6
195.5
201.4
205.9
208.1
208.8
207.9
206.7
212.9

183.7
182.4
181.3
180.9
180. 5
180.9
180.8
180.5
180.8
186.3
187.9
190.3
191.7

125.1
124.5
124.6
124.6
124.8
124.8
124.7
124.8
125.4
G)
(>)
125.9
(0

144.3
143.8
143.3
142.5
143.6
141.3
142.1
142.5
144.6
145.7
146.3
147.6
148.1

196.4
189.1
189.3
189.1
189.3
189.9
190.4
191.6
194.6
199.3
208.7
211.3
214.8

152.9
152.4
152.2
152.2
151.7
152.0
151.6
151.2
152.3
152.8
153.5
153.8
159.2

1950: A v e r a g e ..
J a n .15___
F eb . 15__
M ar. 15_ _
A p r. 15._.
M a y 15—
June 15—
Ju ly 15__
A u g. 1 5 Sept. 15. _
O ct. 1 5 . ..
N ov. 1 5 D e c. 1 5 ...

179.9
174.9
G)
(0
175.8
G)
G)
179.3
0)
G)
184.3
G)
G)

221.4
210.4
212.1
211.3
212.9
216.6
219.1
224.2
227.5
228.5
228.7
230.7
234.9

187.6
183.8
G)
G)
185.1
G)
G)
184.0
G)
C1)
193.3
(0
G)

139.4
137.2
0)
0)
138.2
0)
0)
139.2
0)

1951: Jan. 15_._
F eb . 1 5 -.M a r. 15- A p r. 15__.

181.0
185.4
185.6
185.9

217.7
222.2
221.4
222.3

196.9
201.1
201.3
201.7

0)
126.1
0)
0)

148.1
149.7
150.3
149.7

219.1
220.8
221.1
220.7

161.0
168. 0
169.0
169.3

1951: Jan. 15. __
F eb. 1 5 M ar. 15. _
A p r. 1 5 ...

190.4
0)
(0
194.1

243.4
247.4
250.3
248.6

196.5
0)
G)
199.6

M is ­
cella­
neous

186.4
178.3
0)
0)
181.1
0)

140.4
(!)
0)

132.4
131.8
132.0
132.0
131.5
131.2
131. 2
131.2
132.8
132.8
133.7
134.0
134.6

144.9
0)
0)
150.9

135.1
135.3
134.8
134.9

203.1
(!)
(0
207.8

166. 9
(i)
0)
169.1

150.0
149.6
149.6
150.5
150.3
146.8
147.1
148.2
148.2
151. 5
152.2
152.7
152.7

201.2
195.3
0)
195.7
G)
G)
193.3
G)
G)
211.7
G)
G)

147.3
145.7
G)
G)
145.4
G)
G)
146.6
G)
G)
149.2
(0
G)

148.3
148.3
148.3
148.3

220.8
G)
G)
226.6

152.4
G)
G)
153.1

139. 7
140.0
140.5
140.5
140.0
137.3
137.3
137. 5
138.5
140.1
141.0
140. 5
142.8

171.5
G)
G)
167.1
G)
G)
166.1
G)
G)
175.3
G)
G)
182.6

146.1
0)
G)
145.5
G)
G)
143. 9
G)
G)
146.7
G)
G)
149.2

142.8
143. 0
143.0
143.1

G)
G)
187.5
0)

0)
G)
156.3
0)

0)

0)

182.3
0)
0)
195.4
0)

0)

161.8
159.9
G)
0)
159.3
G)
G)
160.7
0)
G)
164. 9
G)
G)

R IC H M O N D , VA .

P IT T S B U R G H , P A .

1950: A v e ra g e . .
J a n . 15___
F eb . 1 5 M a r. 15. _
A p r. 15__
M a y 15—
June 15—
J u ly 1 5 .._
A u g. 1 5 Sept. 15_.
O ct. 1 5 - - .
N ov. 1 5 D e c. 15—

173.8
170.0
169.4
169.5
169.9
171.0
171.8
172.9
176.0
177.4
178.8
178.7
180.2

208.1
199.7
198.4
198.5
201.0
205.1
207.5
211.1
213.3
214.6
215.9
213.8
218.0

216.0
214.8
214.3
214.0
212.5
212.9
213. 7
213.0
214.2
219.4
220.4
221.6
221.6

123.0
122.2
122.2
122.3
122.3
123.1
123.4
123.4
123.4
G)
123.7
G)
G)

138.4
138.2
138.2
138.5
138.6
137.0
137.0
137.0
138.6
138.5
139.6
140.1
140.1

192.0
188.0
186.7
187.0
186.9
183.6
184.5
187.6
191.8
196.2
202.5
203.2
206.4

152.6
149.9
149.7
149.8
149.5
149.8
149.6
149.4
155.2
155.8
157.0
157.7
158.2

1950: A v e ra g e ._
J a n .15___
F eb . 1 5 M ar. 15—
A p r. 15. _.
M a y 15—
June 15—
July 15—
A u g. 1 5 Sept. 15. _
O ct. 15___
N o v . 15-_
D ec. 15—

169.6
164.6
G)
0)
164.7
0)
(0
170.0
G)
0)
173.8
(0
G)

196.8
188.3
187.9
189.3
189.0
191.1
195.2
200.7
202.9
202.9
202.0
201.6
210.3

188.1
185.0
0)
0)
185.1
0)
184.6
0)
0)
193.3
0)
0)

132.0
0)
0)
145.3
(0
0)
147.5
0)
0)

1951: Jan. 15.
F eb . 1 5 M a r. 15. _
A p r. 15—

183.4
185.6
186.0
186.7

222.4
227.4
227.2
227.8

227.0
232. 5
234.3
234.6

123.7
G)
G)
125.4

148.8
149.9
150.0
150.3

213.9
214.7
214.9
216. 6

159.7
159.9
160.7
161.0

1951: Jan. 15.
F eb . 15__
M ar. 15—
A p r. 1 5 -..

179.8
G)
G)
181.2

215.6
218.3
217.4
215.9

198.1
0)
0)
202.0

148.5
0)
(0
150.8

s t

P O R T L A N D , M A IN E

0)

140.5
132.1
0)

0)

0)

. :L O U I S , M O .

1950: A v e ra g e . .
Jan. 15___
F eb . 15.__
M a r. 15_ _
A p r. 1 5 M a y 15__
June 15__
J u ly 15__
A u g. 1 5 Sept. 1 5 ..
O ct. 1 5 - . .
N ov. 1 5 D e c. 15__

166.2
0)
(i)
163.7
(i)
0)
164.4
G)
G)
168.1
G)
0)
171.3

194.1
187.3
186.7
190.3
188.2
189.2
193.0
198.9
198.0
197.7
198.9
198.1
202.9

192.0
0)
G)
188.1
0)
(0
187.7
G)
( l)
196.2
(0
(0
200.0

116.4
0)
G)
116.0
0)
(0
116.3
G)
G)
116.7
G)
G)
117.2

150. 5
151.4
149.7
149.7
148.1
145.8
148.0
148.3
149.2
152.1
153.5
154.9
155.0

183.9
G)
G)
179.0
G)
G)
178.6
0)
0)
187.1
0)
(0
195.2

153.7
G)
(0
152. 4
G)
G)
152.6
G)
G)
154.6
G)
G)
156.4

1950: A v e ra g e . .
J a n .15___
F eb . 1 5 M ar. 15. _
A p r. 15.
M a y 15—_
June 15—
Ju ly 1 5 . ..
A u g. 1 5 Sept. 15. _
O ct. 1 5 - . .
N o v . 15. _
D e c. 15—

171.5
(0
G)
168.0
G)
0)
168.8
G)
G)
174.0
G)
G
178.8

213.7
204.6
202.8
204.7
202.6
207.2
210.2
220.1
220.8
220.4
220.2
221.2
229.7

191.6
0)

125.7

188.6
0)
0)
188.7
0)
G)
193.4

124.9
0)
0)
126.1
0)
0)
126.7

199.0

127.5

1951: Jan. 15. _ .
F eb . 1 5 M a r. 15. _
A p r. 1 5 ...

G)
(0
175.7
0)

207.9
211.0
210.5
209.6

G)
0)
207.7
G)

G)
G)
117.7
G)

155.0
155.3
156.0
155.8

(0
G)
199.4
(0

G)
G)
159.2
G)

1951: Jan. 15. . .
F eb . 1 5 M a r . 15. _
A p r. 15. _.

G)
G)
185.2
0)

234.0
240.0
239.4
237.6

(0
0)
203.6
0)

(0
0)
128.3




H ousefurnishings

PO R TLAN D , OREG.

1950: A v e r a g e ..
J a n . 15___
P eb . 1 5 ...
M ar. 15. .
A p r. 1 5 ...
M a y 1 5 ...
June 1 5 --.
J u ly 1 5 . ..
A u g . 15--.
Sept. 1 5 ..
O ct. 1 5 - .N o v . 15—D e c. 1 5 ...

1N ot available.

Fuel,
elec­
tricity,
and re­
frigera­
tion

0)

0)
0)

0)
0)

0)
0)

0)

32

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

T able

C - l : Consumers1 price index for moderate-income families: Adjusted all-items and group indexes, United States and 84
cities, by month, 1950-April 1951— Continued
[1935-39=100]

Period

All
Items

Food Apparel Rent

Fuel,
elec­ Housetricity,
furand re­ nishfrigera­ ings
tion

Mis­
cella­
neous

Period

950: Average. .
Jan. 15—
Feb. 15—
Mar. 15. _
Apr. 1 5 May 15—
June 15—
July 15—
Aug. 15—
Sept. 15. _
Oct. 15—
Nov. 1 5 Dec. 15—

174.7
0)
<9
172.9
0)
(9
172.4
(9
0)
175.3
(9
(9
181.5

215.2
214.3
211.9
210. 5
210.8
210.4
211.1
215.9
217.3
214.3
217.0
219.3
229.0

184.1
0)
(9
181.4
(9
(9
181.3
0)
0)
184.9
(9
0)
192.2

123.1
(0
0)
122.8
(9
0)
123.5
0)
0)
123.5
0)
0)
125.6

86.0
84.5
84.5
84.5
86.5
86.5
86.5
86.5
86.5
86.5
86.5
86.5
86.5

164.2
(0
0)
159.3
0)
0)
157.6
0)
0)
169.7
0)
0)
175.7

167.0
(0
0)
166.9
0)
0)
165.1
(9
0)
167.7
0)
0)
169.4

1951: Jan. 15...
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15...
Apr. 15—

(9
(9
188.7
(9

238.0
235.3
241.7
238.4

0)
0)
199.3
(9

(0
(9
131.9
(0

86.5
86.5
92.0
92.0

0)
(9
179.1
0)

(0
0)
173.5
0)

153.4
152.2
152.2
152.2
152.5
152.4
152.6
152.6
152.6
153.9
154.4
156.4
156.4

196.4
192.2

S A V A N N A H , GA.
178.2
172.3

1951: Jan. 15. „
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15—
Apr. 15. __

189.2

(9
(9

173.4

(9
0)

177.7

(9
(9

183.6

0)
(0
(0
0)

195.5

208.8
197.0
195.6
200.0
200.0
203.6
206.3
211.6
219.5
217.9
215.9
214.9
223.0
229.8
231.5
232.3
237.6

186.5
184.6

0)
(0

182.3

(9
(9

181.1

(9
(9

194.3

0)
(9
196.1

(9
(9

205.2

149.0
139.4

(9
(9

142.1

(9
(9

152.7

(9
(9

155.5

(9
(9
158.5

(9
(9

161.6

160.6
158.5

(9
(9

(9
(9

(9
(9

(9
(9

(9
(9

(9
(9

(9
(9

(9
(9

193.5
190.9
202.9

156.4
156.6
156.6
160.6

209.8

149.0
147.1
147.1
148.8
148.8
147.2
147.9
148.3
149.1

171.5
(9
167.7
(9
(9
167.2
(9
(9
170.8

(9
(9

218.2

158.9

158.8

169.0
(9
164.0
(9
(9
166.6
(9
(9
171.2

202.6
192.4
191.4
194.7
194.0
199.6
204.2
209.5
209.8

1Not available.




196.2
(9
194.4
(9
(9
193.1
(9
(9
194.5

115.1
(9
113.0
<9
(9
113.8
(9
(9
116.3

Mis­
cella­
neous

1950: Sept. 15__
Oct. 15.-.
Nov. 15_ _
Dec. 15__

(9
(9
173.1
(9

208.9
207.2
207.1
212.1

(9
(9
201.8
(9

(9
(9
117.3
(9

149.8
150.6
151.1
151.8

(9
(9
180.3
(9

(9
(9
148.9
(9

1951: Jan. 15—
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15- _
Apr. 15_-.

(9
180.8
(9
(9

217.7
223.7
222.7
221.4

(9
210.5
(9
(9

(9
118.7
(9
(9

152.0
158.3
158.3
154.9

(9
185.7
(9
(9

(9
150.5
(9
(9

SE A T TL E , W ASH.
1950: Average
Jan. 15—
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15__
Apr. 1 5 May 15—
June 15—
July 15—
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15..
Oct. 15...
Nov. 15__
Dec. 15—

177.4
(9
174.3
(9
(9
174.4
<9
(9
177.3
(9
(9
183.1
(9

211.8
205.8
205.3
204.4
205.6
206.9
208.6
211.4
214.6
214.1
218.0
221.8
225.7

185.9
(9
182.5
(9
(9
182.8
(9
(9
184.8
(9
(9
192.3
(9

145.3
(9
144.8
(9
(9
145.4
(9
(9
145.8
(9
(9
147.6
(9

129.4
128.3
128.3
128.4
128.9
128.9
128.9
128.9
129.0
129.3
131.2
131.2
131.5

193.1
(9
187.2
(9
(9
189.7
(9
(9
189.6
(9
(9
205.2
(9

162.4
(9
161.8
(9
(9
160.2
(9
(9
161.4
(9
(9
166.2
(9

1951: Jan. 15—
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15. .
Apr. 15.

(9
188.3
(9
(9

230.2
231.7
234.3
234.4

(9
201.8
(9
(9

(9
148.1
(9
(9

131.8
132.0
132.1
132.1

(9
213.5
(9
(9

(9
168.7
(9
(9

163.7

165.7

(9
(9

170.9

S C R A N T O N , P A .1
1950: Average
Jan. 15—
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15__
Apr. 1 5 May 15—
June 15—
July 15—
Aug. 15—

Food Apparel Rent

Fuel,
elec­ Housetricity,
furand re­ nishfrigera­
ings
tion

S C R A N T O N , P A .— Continued

S A N F R A N C I S C O , C A L IF .

1950: Average. .
Jan. 15__
Feb. 15. „
Mar. 15_ _
Apr. 15. „
M a y 15—
June 15—
July 15—
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15_ _
Oct. 15—
N ov. 1 5 Dec. 15—

All
items

145.7
(9
143.8
(9
(9
144.0
(9
(9
145.8

W A S H I N G T O N , D . C.
1950: Average __
Jan. 15—
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15. .
Apr. 15—
May 15—
June 15—
July 15—
Aug. 1 5 Sept. 15-_
Oct. 15—
Nov. 15. .
Dec. 15__

169.5
(9
166.0
(9
(9
166.8
(9
(9
170.8
(9
(9
173.5
(9

202.6
194.4
194.0
194.7
194.4
196.9
201.9
205.8
207.4
207.0
208.9
208.9
216.7

210.9
(9
210.2
(9
(9
208.5
(9
(9
209.0
(9
(9
215.1
(9

116.7
(9
116.4
(9
(9
116.5
(9
(9
117.4
(9
(9
117.8
(9

144.2
143.5
143.0
143.0
143.0
141.7
143.0
143.3
144.0
145.6
145.8
147.1
147.4

202.0
(9
196.8
(9
(9
196.7
(9
(9
200.7
(9
(9
213.0
(9

159.2
(9
156.9
(9
(9
157.4
(9
(9
159.9
(9
(9
162.5
(9

1951: Jan. 15—
Feb. 1 5 Mar. 15__
Apr. 15_._

(9
179.2
(9
(9

221.2
223.3
222.4
222.2

(9
222.5
(9
(9

(9
118.1
(9
(9

147.4
149.1
149.1
146.7

(9
222.4
(9
(9

(9
164.3
(9
(9

33

APPENDIXES

Appendix D
T able D - l : Population weights used for combining city data into composites for the United States 1
Weights for combining

W eights for combining

Regions and metropolitan areas 2

North Atlantic:
Boston, Lowell, Lawrence, Haver­
hill,2 Worcester,4 Brockton«-----Providence6____________________
Fall River 6___________ ________ _
Bridgeport, Waterbury--------------New Haven, Hartford, Springfield-Holyoke, New BritainBristol5______________________
Portland, M aine4................... ......
Manchester 4___________________
Buffalo, Erie------- --------------------Rochester, Syracuse, Utica-Rome,
Scheneetady-Troy-Albany------New York City, Stamford-Norwalk 5------- ----------------------------Newark (Northeastern N. J.)7___
Philadelphia, Allentown-Bethlehem, Easton, Wilmington,
Trenton, Atlantic City, Read­
ing, Lancaster, York,4 Harris­
burg-------------- ----------------------Scranton, Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton.
Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Altoona,
Charleston, Wheeling-Steubenville----- ---------------------------------

City food data for
food price index
for large cities in
United States

1950
percent

1942
percent

3.84
.91
.17
.51

4.9
.8
.4
.6

1.45
.15
.11
1.62

2.1
.2
.1
1.6

2.24

2.3

11.98
4.15

11.8
1.6

7.07
.80

City data for other
goods and services
to obtain indexes
for large cities in
United States
1950
percent

1942
percent

i 6.88

8.8

.15
.11

.2
.1

i 3.86

3.9

1

J l6.13

7.2
.9

7.07
.80

R egion s and m e trop olitan areas 2

13.4

7.2
.9

N o rth C en tral— C o n tin u e d
C incinnati, H a m ilto n ,4 H u n tin gt o n -A s h la n d ______ _______________
L ou isville, E v a n sv ille_____________
C olu m b u s, D a y to n , Springfield,
O h io 4____________________________
D etroit, Jackson,4 K a la m a zoo,4
T o le d o , G ra n d R a p id s, F lin t,
L ansing,4 S a g in a w 4____________
C le v e la n d ,
A k ron ,
C a n to n ,
Y o u n g s to w n _____________________
St. L ou is, Springfield, M o .4----------K ansas C ity , M o ., T o p e k a ,4 St.
J o s e p h 4__________________________
W i c h it a ..____________ _______ ______
Cedar R a p id s______________________
O m aha, Sioux C it y ,4 L in co ln ,4
D es M o in e s_______ ______________
M in n eapolis 10_____________________
St. P aul 1®__________________________
T o t a l________________________

.68

.7

.68

.7

South Central:
B i r m in g h a m ,
M o n t g o m e r y ,4
C h atta n ooga,4 N a s h v ille ......... ....
K n o x v i ll e ..________________________
M e m p h is __________ _______ ________
________________________
Jack son .
L ittle R o c k ............... ............... ........... ..
M o b ile 4____________________________
H ou ston , A u s tin ,4 B e a u m o n tP ort A rth u r,4 San A n to n io , E l
P a s o . . . _________________________
D allas, F o rt W o r th , W a c o ,4 O kla­
h om a C ity , T u ls a ___ ________ __
N e w Orleans, S h r e v e p o rt4............

1. 59
.19
.37

1.3
.2
.4

1.59

1.3

T o t a l_________________________

.56

.6

Jack son v ille, T a m p a -S t. Peters­
bu rg, M ia m i_____________________

1.48

1.1

1.48

1.1

Total_______ _____ ________

8. 87

8.4

8.87

8.4

7.23

8.1

7.23

8.1

1.51

1.7

1.51

1.7

1.04
.60
.29

1.2 ]
.4 V
.6

1.93

2.2

Total........... ..........................
South Atlantic:
Baltimore______________________
Washington-----------------------------Richmond, Roanoke, Durham,4
Greensboro 4-High Point---------Winston-Salem_________________
Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport
News 3—....... ................... ...........
Atlanta, Augusta,4 Macon,4 Ashe­
ville,4 Charlotte 4............. ...........
Savannah_____________________ _
Charleston,4 Columbia4--------------

North Central:
Chicago, South Bend, Rockford—
Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha,
Madison 4____________________
Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Terre
Haute 4______________________
Peoria, Davenport8_____________
Springfield, 111.,9Decatur________

4.10

4.2

4.10

4.2

39.10

38.7

39.10

38.7

1.64
1.81

1.8
1.9

1.64
1.81

1.8
1.9

.93
.18

.8
.2

} 111

}

1.0

T o t a l______ __________________

1

1 Source: 1950 population weights based on 1950 Census of Population,
Preliminary Counts, Series PC-3, No. 3 and No, 4; 1942 population weights
based on 1940 population adjusted by percent of change from April 1940 to
May 1942 from U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census,
Estimates of the Civilian Population by Counties, May 1, 1942, Series P-3,
No. 33.
2In each case the city first enumerated is that inwhich prices arc obtained.
3Not classified as a metropolitan area in 1950, but included for comparabil­
ity with weights used in previous years.
4Not classified as a metropolitan district in 1940 by the census.
s Not classified as a metropolitan district in 1940, but was a separate met­
ropolitan area in 1950: included for comparability with old weights.
6 For the purpose of computing the composite food-cost index in 1942 the
Providence weight was computed on the basis of two-thirds of the combined




W estern :
D en ver, P u e b lo 4_______ _________
Salt L a ke C it y _____________________
B u tt e -A n a c o n d a 3_________________
Seattle, Spokane, T a c o m a ... _.
P ortlan d, O reg-------------------------------San F r a n cis c o -0 a k la n d , Sacra­
m ento, San Jose, F r e s n o 4_______
L os A ngeles, San D ie g o _______. . .

G rand to ta l________

_______

C it y data for other
C ity food data for
goods an d services
food price index
to o b ta in indexes
for large cities in
for large cities in
U n ited States
U n ited States
1950
percent

1942
percent

1.60
.91

1.8
1.0

|
fl

1.32

1.3

]

1950
percent

Q oo
QQ
o.

1942
percent

A 1
1
4.

5.55

6.1

5.55

6.1

3.31
2.20

3.6
2.5

3.31
2.20

3.6
2.5

1.25
.27
.13

1.3
.3
.1

2.65

2.8

1.00
1.09
.59

1.1
1.1
.6

1. 68

1
X. 7(

29.89

32.8

29.89

32.8

1
i. Qfi
yo

o n
u

■

1. 56
.42
.60
.18
.24
.28

1.7 l
r
.3
.5 l
.2 V
.2 J
.3

2.29

2.1

2.07
1.06
8.70

8.2

1.02

.9

.28

.3

[

4.36

3.9

1.8 J
1.1

1.06

1.1

8. 70

8.2

)

.81
.34
.08
1.52
.87

•4
•i f
1.3
.7

1.23

1.2

1.52
.87

1.3
.7

3.78
6.04

3.1
5.6

3.78
6.04

3.1
5.6

.81

13.44

11.9

13.44

11.9

100.00

100.0

100.00

100.0

population of the Providence metropolitan district as given by the census,
the Fall River weight on the basis of one-third of that population.
7Deleted from the New York-northeastern New Jersey metropolitan area;
includes population of all northeastern New Jersey counties.
8For the purpose of computing the composite food-cost index in 1942,
the Peoria weight includes one-third of combined population of the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metropolitan district; the Springfield, 111., weight,
two-thirds of that population.
9In 1940 not classified as a metropolitan district by the census. For the
purpose of computing the composite food-cost index in 1942, the Peoria weight
included one-third of the combined population of the Davenport-MolineRock Island metropolitan district; the Springfield, 111., weight two-thirds
of that population.
19Population of Duluth-Superior prorated over Minneapolis and St. Paul.

34

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

Appendix E.—Relative Importance of Items in Index
In adjusting the Consumers’ Price Index as of
January 1950, weights were revised to reflect the
1949-50 pattern of consumers’ expenditures. New
items were introduced, and the weights of others
were changed. (For a description of the adjusted
index, see pp. 10-20.) As 'a result, the relative
importances, which reflect the effective weight of
each item in the index, were changed as shown in
table E-5.
“ Relative importance” refers to the percentage
distribution of the “ value weights” which enter
into the index calculation. The relative im­
portance figures for the base period of the index
represent the distribution of family expenditures
for that period. To exemplify, if 30 percent of
consumers’ expenditures were allocated to food
and 10 percent to recreation, 30 percent and 10
percent would represent relative importances of
these groups. In subsequent periods, the relative
importances do not reflect the distribution of ac­
tual expenditures. Instead, they are the per­
centage distribution of the costs necessary to
purchase in the current period, the same quantity
and quality of goods purchased in the base period.
They are therefore affected by the size of the baseperiod expenditure, as well as by the differences
in the rates at which prices for different items
change, i. e., relative importance will increase for
those items which rise in price faster than average
and decline for those items which increase in price
less than average.
Changes in relative importance over time are
illustrated by assuming that an index contains
only two items, as follows. The base-period
expenditure for item A was $60 (3 units at $20
each), and for item B it was $40 (one unit at $40).
The base-period relative importance would be 60
percent and 40 percent, respectively. If the price
of A doubles and the price of B increases only 50
percent, the cost of the base-period units currently
becomes $120 (3 units of item A at $40 each) plus
$60 (one unit of item B at $60) or $180. The
relative importance of item A is thus 67 percent
/120\
/60\
\ 180/ anC^
^ Percent ( pgQ )*
Utilization of relative importances makes pos­
sible useful short-cut procedures in constructing
special indexes, and in weighting group indexes



together to obtain composite or “ all items” in­
dexes. These procedures are here described and
the current explanation supersedes that made in
the August 1948 issue of the Monthly Labor
Review.

Value Weights—Origin and Changes
It is obviously impossible to collect, frequently,,
the information on price changes for all the goods
and services purchased by consumers; but com­
plete coverage is unnecessary for the purpose of
the CPI calculation. Instead, pricing of a repre­
sentative sample of items suffices, since fairly large
groups of related items have similar price move­
ments over time. Thus, in the construction of the
CPI, the price movement of one item is imputed
to the group of which it is a part.
Before the January 1950 adjustment, the index
was calculated by using the annual average ex­
penditure for each item purchased by families of
wage earners and lower-salaried workers as dis­
closed in a 1934-36 expenditure survey. The
expenditures for related groups of items known to
have similar price movements were then totaled,
and representative items were priced. The total
expenditure for each group was multiplied by the
percentage change in the price of the item selected
to represent it. In this manner the 1934-36
annual expenditures were adjusted to the 1935-39
price level.
These figures formed the base-period “ value
weights” and their percentage distribution gives
the base-period relative importance. In order
to obtain value weights for subsequent periods,
these base-period weights were multiplied by the
appropriate price relatives from period to period.
Subsequent value weights divided by those of the
base period yield the index for the subsequent
period. The percentage distribution of these
value weights at any period is the relative im­
portance for that period.
Value weights in the CPI have been altered at
times to reflect unusual conditions or to calculate
the index with a different number of priced items.
Thus, they are not strictly comparable over the
years since 1935-39. For example, during World
War II, the weights were adjusted within com­

35

APPENDIXES

modity groups (and to some extent between
groups) to account for rationing and shortages,
but the original weights were subsequently re­
stored.
In 1947, the number of priced items was reduced
and at the same time some articles of children’s
clothing were added to the priced items. Baseperiod value weights assigned to those items for
which pricing was discontinued were reassigned
to currently priced items. Base-period value
weights for children’s clothing (which had previ­
ously been assigned to items used to reflect the
price movement of children’s clothing) were
assigned to the representative items which had
been added to the list of priced items. These
later adjustments affected the relative importance
of individual items in relation to the group and
to the all-items total, but the relationship of
groups to the total index was unaffected.
More important than the foregoing adjustments,
however, are those changes in value weights (and
consequently relative importance) due to changed
prices. Since prices of items increase or decrease
at different rates, the relationships (or relative
importance) of the value weight of the item to the
total varies from time to time, as exemplified at
the beginning of this article. In the index before
adjustment, for example, the relative importance
of food as of January 1950 had increased much
more from the base period than that of any other
group; this resulted because prices of food had
increased more than those of other groups, and
not because families were spending a larger frac­
tion of their total expenditures on food. In con­
trast, the relative importance of rent declined
because rents rose very slowly compared with
prices of other things. The relative importance
of major groups and subgroups of food and mis­
cellaneous commodities is shown in table E - l for
the base period (1935-39) and for January 1950,
both before and after adjustment.
January 1950 figures after adjustment are not
comparable with those previously published. A
few changes in classification were made as part
of the interim adjustment: radios were trans­
ferred from the housefurnishings to the miscel­
laneous group; television and alcoholic beverages
were added to the miscellaneous group. The
group of unallocated expenditure items, formerly
included in the miscellaneous group, were dis­




tributed proportionally to priced items. The
effect of these changes is shown in table E - l . Un­
allocated items have been distributed propor­
tionally to the priced items in the January 1950
T a b l e E - l .— Percentage distribution o f index value weights
January 1950

Commodity group

193539

Before adjust­
ment, with un­
allocated—
Sepa­
rated

Dis­
trib­
uted

After
adjust­
ment

Food.... ....................................................
Cereals and bakery products.............
Meats, poultry, and fish....................
Meats ..........................................
Beef and veal.........................
Pork ..................................
Lamb....................................
Chickens............................... .
Fish.............................................
Dairy products.................................
Eggs...................................................
Fruits and vegetables........................
Fresh...........................................
Frozen.. __________________
Canned........................................
Dried...........................................
Beverages...........................................
Fats and oils.... .................................
Sugar and sweets...............................

33.9
5.3
9.6
7.7
4.2
2.7
.8
1.1
.8
6.5
1.9
7.3
5.6

39.8
5.9
12.4
10.0
5.9
2.9
1.2
1.1
1.3
7.2
1.7
8.6
6.9

41.6
6.1
13.0
10.5
6.2
3.0
1.3
1.1
1.4
7.5
1.8
9.0
7.3

1.4
.3
1.1
1.1
1.1

1.2
.5
1.8
1.0
1.2

1.2
.5
1.9
1.0
1.3

33.3
3.9
10.6
7.6
4.7
2.1
.8
2.0
1.0
6.1
1.4
7.0
4.7
.3
1.8
.2
2.4
.9
1.0

Apparel....................................................
Rent__.....................................................
Fuel, electricity, and refrigeration.........
Housefurnishings.....................................

10.5
18.1
6.4
4.2

11.7
13.2
5.4
4.5

12.2
13.8
5.6
4.7

12.8
11.6
3.7
5.7

Miscellaneous...........................................
Allocated :
Medical care................................
Personal care...............................
Automobiles................................
Other transportation.................
Reading and recreation..............
Household operation...................
Tobacco and alcoholic beverages..
TTnallor»fttfid
..... ...........

26.9

25.4

22.1

32.9

3.8
2.3
3.8
4.1
2.8
3.6
2.3
4.2

3.2
2.4
5.2
2.4
2.8
3.1
2.0
4.3

3.3
2.5
5.5
2.5
2.9
3.3
2.1

5.2
2.4
7.8
3.6
5.8
4.1
4.0

All items........................................

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

figures both before and after adjustment in order
to show the changes in relative importances.
Table E - l illustrates that the index relative im­
portances as of January 1950 (before adjustment)
represent the percentage distribution of the cur­
rent costs of a fixed market basket of goods and
services and not the actual current distribution of
consumer expenditures.
Actually, consumers
change their buying habits considerably over time.
For example, new items, such as television, are
introduced in the market and claim their share of
the consumers’ dollar. In addition, the relation­
ships of prices of competing goods cause consumers
to substitute one item for another; if the price of
rib roast, for example, advances, the consumer often
substitutes a cheaper cut of meat such as frank­

36

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

furters or possibly a cheese or egg dish. Govern­
ment controls also affect the expenditure pattern
as well: with rents controlled many consumers had
greater proportionate amounts to spend on other
items. Thus, as the base period recedes, the
relative-importance figures become less and less
indicative of the manner in which consumers
spend their money.
The interim adjustment was designed specifi­
cally to correct this deviation from reality. As of
January 1950, the value weights were adjusted to
reflect the current distribution of consumers’ ex­
penditures, i. e., the manner in which consumers
were spending their money as of that date. The
extent of the revision in the value weights may
be seen by comparing the relative importance
both before and after revision in table E -l.

Uses of Relative Importance

to move with (i. e., are assigned the same index as)
the all-items index.
The products of these multiplications, when
summed, approximate the all-items index, and the
percentage distribution of the products represents
the relative importance of each group in January
1950.
T ab le E - 2 : Calculation of relative importance of components ,

January 1950, before adjustment of weights

Group

Relative
impor­
tance,
1935-39

Index, Jan­
uary 1950
(1935-39=
100) : Ad­
justed
series

(1)

(2)

Index relative importance figures can be calcu­
lated for any date in much the same manner as
are value factors. By the steps shown in tables
E -2 and E -3, the relative importances may be
determined for any particular date desired, and
group indexes may be combined to approximate
the all-items index. This all-items index will
not exactly equal the Bureau’s published index,
partly because of differences in rounding and partly
because of minor changes in value weights and
differences in the method of handling the group of
unpriced items.
In using relative importance figures, it must be
remembered that they are not quantity weights;
they are value weights expressed as percentages
and are applied to price relatives, not to prices.
The reference date (or base period) of the relative
must be the same as the date of the relative im­
portance. Thus, the discussion which follows uses
base-period relative importances and published
indexes on a 1935-39 base for periods prior to
January 1950, and indexes and relative import­
ances based on January 1950 for periods after
that date.
The procedure for calculating relative impor­
tances, shown in table E -2, consists of multiplying
the base-period group relative importance by the
corresponding index of the group for the period de­
sired, in this case January 1950. Prices of the
miscellaneous unallocated group were assumed




(3)

(4)

33.9
10.5
18.1
6.4
4.2

196.0
185.0
129.4
140.0
184.7

66.4440
19.4250
23.4214
8.9600
7. 7574

39.5
11.6
13.9
5.3
4.6

22.7
4.2

155.1
168.2

35.2077
7.0644

20.9
4.2

100.0

168.2

168.2799

100.0

Food................................
Apparel...........................
Rent.......................... —
Fuel—.............................
Housefumishings-..........
Miscellaneous :
Allocated..................
Unallocated..............
All items............

Relative
impor­
Product:
columns tance, Jan­
(1 )X (2) uary 1950 1
(col. 3-5-MOO
168.2799)

* Including effect of new unit bias correction in rent.

To obtain the relative importances for the
adjusted index after January 1950, the procedure
shown in table E -3 should befollowed: multiply the
group relative importances for the adjusted index
for January 1950 by the relative price change in
the corresponding adjusted index from January
1950 to the designated date. The percentage dis­
tribution of these products is the relative impor­
tance. The sum of the products is the weighted
relative change from January 1950 (i. e., an allitems index with January 1950=100).
To obtain the all-items index on a 1935-39 base,
multiply this figure by the January 1950 all-items
index.
Calculation of relative importance of compo­
nents, February 1951, adjusted series

T able E - 3 :

Group

Relative
Relative
Index— Relative change
impor­
January impor­ in index, Product:
tance,
cols.
(2)
1950
January
tance,
February
h 1951 (col.
(1935-39 January 1950 to X(3)100
=100)
4-5Febru­
1950
ary 1951
109.2740)
(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Food-..........................
Apparel.......................
Rent...........................
Fuel.-.......... .............
Housefumishings____
Miscellaneous.............

196.0
185.0
129.4
140.0
184.7
155.1

33.3
12.8
11.6
3.7
5.7
32.9

115.3
109.2
103.6
102.8
113.5
105.2

38.3949
13. 9776
12.0176
3.8036
6.4695
34. 6108

35.1
12.8
11.0
3.5
5.9
31.7

All items...........

168.2

100.0

109.3

109.2740

100.0

All items, February 1951 (1935-39= 100 )=2 (column 4)X 108.2=183.8.

37

APPENDIXES

The January 1950 indexes for all items and rent
used in tables E -2 and E -3 are adjusted indexes
corrected for “ new unit bias” 1 (as shown in ap­
pendix C, p. 27). Therefore, the relative impor­
tances for January 1950 calculated in table E -2
differ from those in table E - l , which do not show
the effect of the rent correction.2 To calculate
relative importances for the “ old series” index,
the procedure shown in table E -2 should be fol­
lowed for periods both before and after January
1950, using “ old series” index numbers.
The manner in which special indexes may be
calculated is illustrated in table E -4. An index
of all items less food is computed in the example
shown. Procedures are the same as those already
explained, except that the relative importance of
groups excluding food is redistributed to equal
100.
The uses which may be made of group relative
importances may also be made by item, using
price relatives for individual foods in regular food
releases and for other items in the quarterly re­
leases for other groups. However, since some
item weights have been changed from time to
time, this calculation will give only approxima­
tions.
In the following listing of January 1950 relative
importances, the food figures are based on a
weighted average of the value weights of 56
cities; for other groups they are based on a
weighted average of actual or estimated data for
34 cities. This presentation differs from the
ordinary calculation regularly issued for Decem­
ber of each year which has been based only on*
1See Correction of New Unit Bias in the Rent Component of Consumers’
Price Index, pp. 1-10.
* Previously published relative importances for the period 1940 through
1949, during which the new unit bias was accumulating, do not show the
effect of this correction. Appropriate adjustments must be made.




Calculation o f indexes , before and after ad­
justment of weights, for selected groups

T able E - 4 :

Before adjustment
Relative impor­
tance, 1935-39
Group
All
groups
(1)
Food___________
Apparel................
Rent.................
Fuel______ _____
Housefumishings _
Miscellaneous:
Allocated____
Unallocated__
All items,
less food..

Index,
January
All
1950 (1935groups, 39=100)
less
food
(2)

Relative
impor­
Product: tance, less
cols. (2) food, Jan­
X (3)4-100 uary 1950 1
(col. 44153.1361)

(3)

(4)

(6)

33.9
10.5
18.1
6.4
4.2

17.0
29.2
10.3
6.8

185.0
129.4
140.0
184.7

31.4500
37.7848
14.4200
12. 5596

20.5
24.7
9.4
8.2

22.7
4.2

36.7

155.1

56.9217

37.2

100.0

100.0

168.2

153,1361

100.0

After adjustment

Group

Index,
Jan­
uary
1950

(1)

Relative im­
portance Jan­
uary 1950

Relative
Relative
change Product: impor­
tance,
in index, columns less
food,
January (3)X (4) Febru­
All
1950 to
ary
1951
4-100
groups, Febru
All
(col. 54groups less
ary 1951
106.2607)
food
(2)

(3)

(4)

(6)

(6)

Food______ ____
Apparel-.............
Rent..................
Fuel.....................
Housefurnishings.
Miscellaneous___

185.0
129.4
140.0
184.7
155.1

33.3
12.8
11.6
3.7
5.7
32.9

19.2
17.4
5.6
8.5
49.3

109.2
103.6
102.8
113.5
105.2

20.9664
18.0264
5. 7568
9.6475
51.8636

19.7
17.0
5.4
9.1
48.8

All items,
less food..

153.1

100.0

100.0

106.3

106.2607

100.0

1Including effect of new unit bias correction in rent.
All items, less food, February 1951 (1935-39= 100.0)=2 (column 5)X153.1 =
162.7.

the cities priced in December weighted to repre­
sent all cities. In the list, all groups of unallocated
items shown in earlier reports— other apparel,
other housefumishings, other household supplies,
and other unallocated items—have been dis­
tributed proportionately to priced items.

38

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

Table E -5 : List of items included and relative importance of each item in major groups of items and in total index after
adjustment, January 1950
I t e m a n d u n it

G rou p
tota l

A ll -i t e m s
total

Item

Group
total

All-items
total

100 .0

3 3 .3

APPAREL....... ....... .......... .........

100.0

12.8

C e r e a ls a n d b a k e r y p r o d u c t s .................
C e r e a ls :
F lo u r , w h e a t ..................................................................6 l b . .
C o r n fla k e s
..................................
C o r n m e a l . ....................................... ................................ l b . .
R lr*
_____________
________ ................................ l b R o lle d o a t s ....................................... ..........................20 o z —
B a k ery p rod u cts :
B r e a d , w h i t e ................................... ................................ l b V a n illa c o o k ie s ................................ ................................ l b -

1 1 .7

3 .9

29.1

3.7

1 .8
.4
.1
.2
.2

.6
.1

6 .5
2 .6

2 .2
.8

M eets
............
.
B e e f:
R o u n d s t e a k — .............................. ................................ l b R i b r o a s t ......... ................................. ................................ l b C h u c k r o a s t ................................ — ................................ l b F r a n k fu r t e r s ................................... ................................ l b H a m b u r g e r ......... ............................. ................................ l b V e a l c u t le t s
................................ l b P ork :
................................ l b C hops
B a c o n , s lic e d
.............................. ................................ l b H a m , w h o l e . . ................................ ................................... l b S a lt p o r k ............................................... ................................... l b L a m b , le g
_______________________ ____ ................................... l b P o u l t r y — f r y in g c h i c k e n s .................
F is h :
F is h (fr e s h , f r o z e n ) ------------------- ................................... l b S a lm o n , p i n k ...................................... ................. 16-oz. c a n . .

3 1 .5

1 0 .6

4 .0
1 .3
1 .7
2 .7
3 .4
1 .0

1 .4
.4
.6
.9
1.1
.3

Wool........................... ....... ...........
Men’s:
Overcoats______________
Topcoats....... ......... ..........
Suits....... ..........................
Slacks................................
Sweaters............................
Women’s:
Coats, heavy, fur trimmed.
Coats, sport, heavy______
Coats, light.......................
Suits................... ..............
Dresses___ ____________
Girls’: Coats............... ............
Boys’:
Suits__________________
Slacks_________________
Mackinaw________ ____ _

2 .8
1 .6
1 .9
.3
2 .3
5 .5

.9
.5
.6
.1
.8
2 .0

19.0

2 .1

.9

.7
.3

D a ir y p r o d u c t s . r .. .. B u t t e r _______ — — __________________ ................................... l b C h e e s e __________________________________ ................................... l b M i l k , fr e s h ( d e l i v e r e d ) ....................... ................................ Q t M i l k , fr e s h , ( g r o c e r y ) - ...................... .................................q t M i l k , e v a p o r a t e d ..................................... ______ 1 4 K -o z . c a n . .
TV** wflftm
____
. . pt

1 8 .3
2 .6
1 .7
6 .7
4 .7
.9
1 .7

6 .1
.9
.6
2 .1
1 .6
.3
.6

E g g s , f r e s h ............................................................. .

4 .3

1 .4

Cotton........................ .
Men's:
Suits.................
Trousers......... .
Overalls, denim.
Shirts, work___
Shirts, business.
Pajamas...........
Shorts..............
Undershirts___
Unionsuits.......
Socks___ _____
Gloves, work...
Women’s:
Dresses, street..
Housedresses...
Nightgowns___
Gloves............ .
Girls’:

S u g a r a n d s w e e t s ........ ......................................
S u g a r .................................................................. .............................. 5 l b .................. - ..........................
G r a p e je ll y

3 .1
2 .2
.9

1 .0
.7
.3

F r u i t s a n d v e g e t a b le s . ................................
F r o z e n fo o d s ___________________________
S t r a w b e r r ie s ....................................... ............................ 16 o z _ .
O ra n g e j u i c e . ............................. .. .............................. 6 o z —
P e a s ............................................ .............. ............................ 12 o z F r e s h f r u it s a n d v e g e t a b le s ---------F r e s h f r u it s :
A p p l e s . . ...................................... ................................ l b B a n a n a s ______________________ ................................... l b O ra n g e s ......................... ................
F r e s h v e g e t a b le s :
B ea ns, green —
.................. ................................... l b C a b b a g e --------- ------------ ------------ — ............................l b C a r r o t s ................ ..................................................b u n c h . .
L e t t u c e ...............- ....................... ........................... h e a d . .
O n io n s ....................... .................. ................................... l b P o t a t o e s ........................................ ........................... 15 l b S w e e t p o t a t o e s . . .................. .................................. l b T o m a t o e s ......................_ ........... .................................. l b C a n n e d f r u it s a n d v e g e t a b le s —
C a n n e d f r u it s :
P e a c h e s .............................. ....................... N o . 2 H c a n . .
P in e a p p le s .............................. .............N o . 2 H c a n . .
C a n n e d v e g e t a b le s :
C o r a ................................................ ................. N o . 2 c a n . .
T o m a t o e s ..................................... ................. N o . 2 c a n . .
P e a s ................................................. ............ N o . 303 c a n . .
B a b y f o o d ........................ ............
D r i e d f r u it s a n d v e g e t a b le s _______
F r u i t s , p r u n e s ................................. ...................................l b V e g e t a b le s , n a v y b e a n s ............. ....................................l b . .

2 1 .2
.8
.2
.2
.4
14.1

7 .0
.3
.1
.1
.1
4 .7

.8
1 .6
2 .1

.3
.5
.7

1 .0
.5
.8
1 .6
1 .0
2 .6
.4
1 .7
5 .6

.3
.2
.3
.5
.3
.9
.1
.6

1.8

.9
.7

.3
.2

F O O D ..................................................................

Bavp.rft£AS. .

.

...

C o ffe e ____________________________________ ................................... l b . .
C o la d r i n k s .................................................... . . 6 - b o t t l e c a r t o n . .
F a t s a n d o i ls ___ ____________________________
L a r d _____________________________________ .................................. l b . .
S h o r t e n in g , hydrogenated................ .................................l b _ .
Salad d r e s s in g ......... ................................ —..................P tO le o m a r g a r in e ......................................... ................................l b -

1 0.05 percent or less.




O )

.1
.1

1 .4
.9
.7
.7
.2
.5

.3
.5
.3
.2
.2
.1
.1

7.1
5 .3
1 .8

2 .4
1 .8
.6

2 .8

.9
.1
.4
.2
.2

1 . 0

. 1

1 .0

.7
.7

Slips.. .
Panties.
Anklets.
Boys’:
Slacks........... .
Jeans, blue denim
Shirts, sport........
Shirts, polo_____
Shorts, knit.........
Yard goods_________
Diapers......................

1.6

.2

1.1

.1

8.1

1.1

1.8

.2

1.7
.5

.2
.1

3.2

.4

1.1

1

2

1.4
.4
.8

.1

.5

0)

2.4

0)

.3

.1
.1

(0

.5

2.0
1.0
.3
.4

1.6
.3
.3
.5

.1

.1
.1

.8

.8
2.2
.5
.8
.5

1
1

.1
.1
.1

.2

(0
(0
0)

.7
.4

.1

.1
.1

.1
.1

.1

.6

.2

.3
1.3

1.2

Silk, rayon, and nylon......... .
Men’s:
Suits, rayon, tropical.
Socks.......................
Women’s:
Blouses, rayon..........
Dresses.....................
Slips_________ ____
Nightgowns............. .
Panties.....................
Hose, nylon..............
Yard goods..................... .

18.5

2.4

.5

.1

1.6

.2

Footwear................ ....................
Men’s:
Shoes, oxford...................
Shoes, work.................. .
Rubbers, dress............... .
Women’s:
Shoes, oxford_________:.
Shoes, strap, pump, or tie.
Children’s:
Girls’, oxford...................
Boys’, oxford........... .......

14.0

Other garments.................
Men’s:
Hats, felt_______
Jackets, horsehide.
Women’s:
Coats, fur_______
Gloves, capeskin..
Girdles_________

.1

5.5

.3
.1

.1
.8
.1

.8

5.8
.8

1.8

3.6
1.0

.3

.5

(i)

.1

.5<

4.0
1.8

.2

2.0

1.3

.3

7.8

1.0

1.0
1.1

.1
.1

2.6
.3
2.8

.2

.4
(0

.4

39

APPENDIXES
T able E -5

List of items included and relative importance of each item in major groups of items and in total index after
adjustment, January 1950— Continued
Group
total

All-items
total

Services.................... ........ ............. ............. ...............
Men’s:
Dry cleaning..................... ................................
Shoe repair.” . ...................................................
Women’s: Shoe repair................ .............................

11.6

1.5

8.4
1.9
1.3

1.1
.2
.2

RENT................................. .........................................

100.0

11.6

FUEL, ELECTRICITY, AND REFRIGERATION.

100.0

3.7

Anthracite, Pennsylvania_________ ______ ________ _
Bituminous coal______________________ ______ _ ..
Coke..__________________ _____ __________ ______
Fuel oil......................... ................ ............ ......... ..........
Kerosene.......................... ............. ............ ....... ..........
Range oil________________________ _____ _________
Wood________ __________________________________
Electricity..................................... .................. ..............
Gas:
Space heating__ ________ _______ _____________
Other than heating________ ____ _______________
Ice............................. “........................... ................... .

7.3
12.7
2.7
11.1
1.0
2.3
.1
30.9

.3
.5
.1
.4

7.8
18.4
5.7

.3
.7
.2

HOUSEFURNISHINGS-............. .............................

100.0

5.7

Towels......................................... .................. ............ .
Sheets........................ .......................... ............ ....... .
Curtains__________ ___________ _________________
Blankets_________________ ______________________
Rugs:
Cotton._____________ ________________ ______
Axminster____________________ ______ ______
Felt base..................... ............... .............................
Living room suites______ ______________ ____ ______
Dinette suites:
Oak_______ ________ ___________________ _____
Chrome................. ................. ..............................
Bedroom suites______ _________________ __________
Sofa beds______ ______________________ _________
Bedsprings________ _________ _____ _________ ____ _
Mattresses___ ______ ____________________________
Sewing machines, electric___ ______________________
Toasters, electric______ ___________________ ______
Washing machines, electric____ ___________________
Vacuum cleaners, electric_______ _________ ______ _
Refrigerators, electric_____ ___ ____________________
Stoves, cook___ . _____ __________________________
Dinnerware, 53-piece set............................. ....................
Pans, aluminum________ ________________________
Brooms_______ . _______ ________________________

1.0
3.1
9.0
1.7

.1
.2
.5
.1

2.6
1.9
6.8
1.3
2.7
3.4
1.8
2.3
14.1
4.1
15.8
5.0
3.9
2.8
.7

MISCELLANEOUS.______ ______________ ______

100.0

32.9

Transportation. ________________ _________________
Automobiles____________ ______ ______
__
Tires.................................................... ..................
Gasoline_____________________ _______________
Motor oil________ _______ ___________________
Anto repairs
Auto insurance.............. .........................................
Auto license, fees and registration. ..........................
Streetcar fares................................................ .........
Bus fares..................................................................
Railroad fares........................... .................. ............

34.7
11.5
.7
6.3
.5
2.1

11.4
3.7
.2
2.1
.2
7

.8
7.3
1.4
2.1

.3
2.4
.4
.7

Item
APPAREL—Continued

10.05 percent or less.




Group
total

All-items
total

Medical care............. ..................................................
Physicians:
Office visit_______ ______ ______ __________
House visit_______________________________
__ ___
_ ..
Obstetrical care___
Snrgp.nns* AppmdAot.nmy
Specialist: Tonsillectomy
Dentist:
Filling..-___________ _____________________
ETtrn.nt.irm
Hospitals:
Men’s pay ward________ . . .
Room____ ___________ _____ . . .
Group hospitalization__
Optometrist: Eyeglasses complete.
Medicine and drugs:
Prescriptions..________
Aspirin.____
_ ...
Quinine.............................................. .......... .
Tincture of iodine..
Milk of magnesia__ __

15.7

5.2

2.0
1.7
.6
.4
:4

.6
.5
.2
.i
.1

2.4
.9

.9
.3

.7
.9
2.7
.7

.2
.3
1.0
.2

TTnnsfthnld nppiratinn
Laundry services___________ ____________ _
T>nmfistin sprvinps
Telephone____________ _____ __ . .
Postage___ _______________
Water rent_____
______
Laundry soap:
Bar_____________________ __________ _____
Granulated
Toilet tissue___

12. 5
&1
3.4
2 .2
.4
.7

4.1
1.0
1.1
.7
.1
.2

.8
1.1
.8

.3
.4
.3

Recreation________ ________ ___ ______________ ...
Velocipedes________ ____ _________ ______ _____
Motion pictures: Adults________ _________
Newspapers________ _____________ __
Television sets_____________ ___
Radios: Table models______
. ...

17.6
2.6
6.9
4.4
2.6
1.1

5.8
.9
2.2
1.5
.9
.3

Alcoholio beverages and tobacco:__________ ________
Cigars____ ____________ ______________ _____
Cigarettes_____________ ____________________
Pipe tobacco______________________ _________
Beer________________________________________

12.3
.5
6.1
.3
5.4

4.0
.2
1.9
.1
1.8

Personal care________ ___________________________
Barber shop service, Haircuts: Men’s ___________
Beauty shop service, Women’s:
Plain shampoos and waves___ _____________
Pftrmanfint wavps
Home permanent refills______ _____ _________
Toilet articles:
Toilet soap_______________________________
Toothpaste . . .
Face powder________ ____________________
Sanitary napkins ___________ ____ _ __
Razor blades__________________________ ___

7.2
1.9

2.4
.7

Item
MISCELLANEOUS—Continued

.7
4.6
2.0
8.7

2 .0

0)
0)

0)

.1
1.1

.3
.1
.5
.1
.1
.4
.1
.2
.2
.1
.1
.8
.2
.9
.3
.2
.2

0)

.7

1.1
.2
.1
.3
.6

.8
.6
!i
1.1
.9
.8
.6
.4

.4
.1
0)

0)

.1
.2

.3
.2
.3
.3
.3
.2
.1

40

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

T able

E—6 : Relative importance of major groups of goods and services in the consumers' price index after adjustment, by c it y ,
January, February , or M arch 1 950

City

All
items

Food

Atlanta 1______________
Baltimore2________ . . .
Birmingham 3__________
Boston 3___ ________
Buffalo 3__ ________ . . .
Chicago 3 __ _________
Cincinnati3____ _____
Cleveland1. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Denver3____ _ _____
Detroit3_______
____
Houston 3_____________
Indianapolis 3___ ____
Jacksonville 2______ _ __
Kansas City 3 ______ _
Los Angeles 3___ ______
Manchester 3__________
Memphis2 ____
Milwaukee1____ ____ _
Minneapolis 2_____ ___
Mobile2________ __ _ _
New Orleans 1_________
New York3. _________
Norfolk 1_____ _______
Philadelphia 3___ _ _ _
Pittsburgh 3__ _________
Portland, Maine 2........
Portland, Oreg.3_ ____ _
Richmond 3_ _________
St. Louis2- ___ .. . ___
San Francisco 2___ ___
Savannah 3____________
Scranton L_ __________
Seattle 1_______ _______
Washington 1__________

100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0

30.0
33.6
30.8
36.1
32.6
37.6
34.1
32.2
29.3
31.2
30.1
29.1
29.5
29.3
30.5
30.4
30.2
31.4
30.5
31.4
36.0
36.2
31.4
34.9
32.5
32.3
30.8
32.8
33.1
33.1
30.9
36.3
32.0
30.0

Ap­
parel

Hous­
ing

12.7
11.7
14.9
11.8
12.0
11.4
12.8
13.3
12.2
12.2
13.6
12.6
12.5
12.1
12.3
15.8
13.8
12.6
12.0
15.2
13.8
13.9
11.4
12.7
14.2
12.9
11.6
14.0
11.9
12.8
14.3
15.1
11.5
13.7

i February 1950.

Miscellaneous

Fuel, elec­
tricity, and Housefurrefrigera­
Total Medi­
nish- miscel­
tion
cal
ings laneous care

Per­
sonal
care

4.2
3.8
4.3
5.3
4.2
5.4
4.3
5.1
5.9
5.4
6.3
4.2
4.0
5.0
5.7
4.5
5.6
5.4
6.4
3.8
3.4
4.9
4.5
4.1
5.4
5.0
7.0
6.3
4.7
6.7
4.3
5.2
7.7
5.3

2.3
2.3
2.5
2.4
2.3
2.5
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.1
2.6
2.2
2.4
2.2
2.2
2.3
2.3
2.3
2.3
2.5
2.5
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.4
2.3
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.3
2.6
2.4
2.3
2.4

3.9
4.4
3.8
6.1
4.7
3.6
3.6
4.2
3.6
4.2
2.0
5.0
3.4
3.8
1.6
6.5
2.8
4.7
4.9
4.2
3.0
3.0
5.4
4.5
3.5
5.8
3.2
5.4
4.0
1.3
4.1
4.9
3.5
3.3

11.0
13.0
10.3
12.1
11.3
11.8
10.8
10.8
12.1
11.1
11.1
10.9
10.8
12.6
12.3
10.2
10.9
12.2
11.2
11.0
11.6
11.9
10.6
11.4
11.5
11.3
11.0
10.9
10.8
11.0
11.0
11.7
11.5
13.5

6.7
6.2
6.9
4.1
6.2
3.9
7.6
7.1
6.9
6.8
7.8
8.4
6.1
6.9
6.3
7.2
9.0
7.3
6.6
7.1
5.4
4.0
9.1
6.1
6.8
6.1
6.2
5.6
6.6
4.5
7.2
6.5
5.5
4.8

35.7
31.1
33.3
29.8
33.2
31.7
31.1
32.4
35.9
34.5
35.4
34.0
37.7
35.3
37.0
29.9
33.3
31.8
34.8
31.1
30.2
31.0
32.1
30.4
31.5
31.6
37.2
31.3
33.6
37.3
32.5
25.5
36.0
34.7

* March 1950.

Public Auto­ Alcoholic
transpor­ mo­ beverages
and
biles tobacco
tation

Read­ House­
ing and hold
recrea­ opera­
tion
tion
4.7
5.0
4.2
5.0
6.1
5.3
5.4
4.6
4.7
5.9
6.1
5.1
4.6
4.9
6.4
5.2
5.4
5.7
5.1
4.5
5.1
7.0
4.9
5.7
5.1
6.3
6.0
5.0
4.8
7.1
4.9
3.9
5.9
5.9

8.5
4.0
7.6
4.0
3.5
3.6
3.1
2.9
4.2
3.6
5.3
2.9
9.4
4.3
3.6
4.4
4.5
2.8
3.5
6.2
5.2
4.1
6.2
3.7
3.2
4.0
3.5
6.0
3.0
5.1
6.4
2.8
3.9
4.9

2.5
5.0
3.0
4.8
2.6
3.4
3.7
3.3
2.3
2.3
2.0
2.5
2.6
2.9
2.6
2.3
1.9
2.7
2.8
2.8
4.2
4.4
2.8
4.9
4.2
1.7
2.4
2.5
4.4
3.3
3.2
2.0
3.3
3.5

9.4
7.0
7.6
4.4
9.8
6.9
8.5
10.5
12.5
11.5
9.9
13.3
10.3
12.5
13.4
7.0
10.0
9.8
11.2
6.9
5.9
3.3
7.7
5.3
7.0
7.2
13.1
6.5
10.0
9.6
7.0
5.5
9.3
9.2

4.1
4.0
4.1
3.94.7
4.6
3.8
3.6
3.8
3.7
3.2
3.8
4.4
3.5
3.1
4.2
3.6
3.1
3.5
4.4
3.9
4.9
3.6
4.3
4.2
5.1
3.0
2.7
4.3
3.2
4.1
3.7
3.6
3.5

3January 1950.

Appendix F
T able F - l : P ercen tage distribu tion o f exp en d itu res as o f the su rvey date ( 1 9 4 7 , 1 9 4 8 , or 1 9 4 9 ) a nd a djusted to 1 9 5 0 , b y
ex p en d itu re g r o u p :

W a g e earners and clerical w ork ers, w hite fa m ilie s o f 2 or m ore p erson s

Denver

Detroit

Houston

Manchester

Memphis

Richmond

Group
1948

1950

1948

1950

1948

1950

1947

1950

1949

1950

1947

1950

Washington,
D. O.
1947

1950

Food______________ _________
Apparel..____ _____________
Housing____________________
Fuel, light, and refrigeration___
Household operation__________
Housefurnishings____ ________
Automobile transportation____
Other transportation_____ ____
Personal care________________
Medical care_____ ___________
Reading and recreation________
Tobacco and alcoholic beverages.

30.0
13.2
11.8
3.7
4.0
7.0
11.4
2.2
2.5
5.6
4.8
3.8

29.5
12.0
12.1
3.5
4.2
6.9
12.7
2.3
2.4
5.9
4.7
3.8

32.3
12.8
10.7
4.0
3.4
6.7
11.2
2.0
2.1
5.2
5.8
3.8

32.5
11.5
10.6
4.1
3.5
6.6
11.9
2.4
2.1
5.5
5.7
3.6

32.0
14.1
10.1
2.2
5.1
7.7
9.4
1.8
2.5
6.3
5.6
3.2

30.2
12.6
11.6
2.0
5.3
7.5
10.8
1.8
2.4
6.5
6.1
3.2

32.8
16.9
9.7
5.6
3.9
7.0
6.1
1.8
2.2
4.2
5.5
4.3

30.6
15.7
10.2
6.3
4.5
7.3
7.0
2.3
2.3
4.4
5.2
4.2

29.2
13.2
11.5
2.8
4.7
9.0
11.8
1.6
2.2
6.2
4.7
3.1

29.4
12.9
11.9
2.5
4.6
8.8
11.3
1.6
2.2
6.2
5.5
3.1

34.4
14.8
10.6
4.8
5.8
5.7
6.5
1.9
2.4
5.9
4.5
2.7

31.8
13.7
11.0
5.1
6.3
5.6
7.7
2.3
2.1
6.7
5.2
2.5

31.4
14.3
13.5
3.2
4.7
5.0
8.1
2.9
2.4
5.4
5.7
3.4

29.7
13.5
13.2
3.0
5.2
4.9
9.8
3.5
2.3
5.4
6.1
3.4

Total__________________

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0




41

APPENDIXES

Appendix G
T able G - l : S u m m a r y o f m ea n square tests o f devia tions 1 o f estim ated w eights f r o m su rvey w eights , 6 cities
Housing

Food

Cloth­
ing

Fuel,
light,
and
Home
refrig­
era­
Total own­
Rent
ers’
tion
costs

Auto purchase and
Fur­
operation
nish­ House­
ing
hold
and opera­
Auto
equip­ tion Total Auto
pur­ oper­
ment
chase ation

Other Per­ Med­ Read­
ing
trans­ sonal
ical and
por­ care care
recre­
tation
ation

Alco­
holic
bev­ All
erages groups
and
to­
bacco

MEAN SQUARE DEVIATIONS
All races—Final weights:
Adjusted to 100 percent____
Before adjustment to 100
percent...................... ......
White families—basic data:
Current index weights...... __
1934-36 weights___________
6-city average 1950 weights...
Data estimated by various
methods:
Method A____ _. ______
Method B.._ .. . ________
Method C_______________
Method D_______________
Method E_______________
Method F_______________
Method G ..._____________
Method H_______________
Method I________________
Method J _______________
Method K_______________
Method L_______________
Method M _______________
Method N___ ___________
Method O_____ __________

All families—basic data:
6-city average 1950 weights
(separately by race)_____
Data estimated by various
methods:
Method A—with Negro as
ratio to white___ ______
Method B—with Negro as
ratio to white__________
Method A —computed
directly............ .............. .
Method B—computed
directly..___ ___________
Method B—separately by
race_________________
Method C—with Negro as
ratio to white.
___ _
Method D —computed
directly______ . _______
Method H—separately by
race__ ______ _. ._ ___
Method J—with Negro as
ratio to white
____ __
Method P—computed
directly______________
Method R—computed
directly... _ ____ _ __
Method S—with Negro as
ratio to white___________
Method T —computed
directly___ ______...
Method U—computed
directly .
__

7.81

1.15

0.33

0.40

0.77

0.66

0.46

2.19

0.52

0.32

0.03

0.37

0.18

0.43

15.62

6. 56

1.39

.45

.51

.87

.89

.58

2.43

.55

.35

.03

.28

.13

.44

15.46

1.11 24.09
2.88 21.52
2.20 .55

.36

.24

5.10
14.40

2.66

3.64
5. 56
1.18

.97
.69
.95

10.42
5.69
5.46

2.60
.34
3. 89

4*.02

2.33 24. 54 24.88 22. 50
.04
.84 3.43 1.53
.22 .38
31 .3 0

131.10
64.38
21.95

1.14
♦. 78

1.24
♦. 84

.84
*.60

3.44
6.24

*. 10
.40

.04
.27

292.92
7.46
36.14

*6.47
8. 59
6.16
6.29

1.33
♦1.22

.89
2.31

.79

1.38

*. 29
3.00
2.82
3.49

1.53

♦. 37
.56

*2.90

.30
*.23

*.11

.62

.57
*.35

16.98
21.94

*.28

*. 13

*44

820.59

.12

1.40
1.90

10.10

4*.03
*6.56
8.31

*2.43
*1.39

1.97

*. 87

*. 89

*.58

*. 35
.44

5.02

.27

8.19

.87

2.04

.69

.84

.37

5.12

.43

.28

.18

.19

.35

19.55

8.10

1.55

1.99

.59

1.00

.36

4.87

.40

.27

.31

.23

.34

20.01

6.38
4.20
*. 51
*.45
8.55

♦Indicates selected method.
1Denver, Detroit, Houston, Manchester, Memphis, Richmond. Wash­
ington not included in tests since original and present index weights were
not strictly comparable with those for other cities.
2White pattern compared with index weights for all races.
2Estimate adjusted for significant difference between mean of 6 cities and
mean of 32 cities in 1934-36.
4Average of 7 cities.




—

—

*. 55
2.63
4.46
2.78

8For groups for which Method B was used for white families, combined
estimates for white and Negro were calculated by this method despite the
slightly higher mean square than by Method B computed directly for all
races or separately by races. Tests for Negro families alone gave a much
lower mean square for all groups when calculated as a ratio to white than
when calculated separately by Method B.

N ote.—Mean square tests were carried through only for those methods
and groups which preliminary investigation by correlation analysis or other
means indicated might be successful.

42

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI
D E S C R IP T IO N OF E S T IM A T IN G M E T H O D S
Method A :
Method B :

Method C :

Method D :

Method E :
Method F :
Method G :
Method H :

M ethod I :
Method J :

Method K :

Method L :
Method M :

Method N :

Method O :
Method P :

Method R :

Method S:




General— Ratio of change from 1934-36 6-city relative importance to 6-city 1950
relative importance X 1934-36 relative importance for city to be estimated.
General— Ratio of differences between 6-city current index relative importance and
6-city 1950 relative importance X current index relative importance of city to be
estimated.
6-C ity Regression— Individual city ratios of change in relative importance from
1934-36 (A) with change from 1935 to 1949 in State per capita income. Estimated
ratios for city to be estimated applied to 1934-36 weight to obtain 1950 estimated
relative importance.
6-C ity Regression— F o o d exp en d itu res for wage-earner clerical families, 6 cities, 1950,
with city-county O A S I in c o m e , 1948. Estimated dollar expenditures for food con­
verted to percent of estimated total expenditures for wage-earner clerical-worker
families. Total expenditure estimated from current index total cost-weights
(1934-36 quantities X current prices) by ratio of 6-city actual expenditures to index
cost weights.
6-C ity Regression— Relative importance, 6 cities, 1950, with p o p u la tio n in each city.
Same as E with tem perature (degree days) in each city.
Multiple 6-C ity Regression— Relative importance, 6 cities, 1950, with tem pera tu re
(degree days) and percent o f hom e o w n ers in each city.
Average rent for all families from dw elling u n it su rv ey adjusted to survey level, in
each city, as a percent of estimated total expenditures for all families, calculated
from index cost-weights in a manner similar to that of Method D .
Average rent (H) converted to a percent of estimated expenditures for families of
wage-earner clerical workers (defined in Method D ).
Estimated average expenditures for owned housing b y all f a m ilie s calculated as the
product of 7 -c ity average 1 9 5 0 costs p er hom e o w n er , and percent of home owners in
each city from dwelling unit survey, converted to a percent of estimated total expen­
ditures for all families (defined in Method D ).
Housing costs p er hom e ow n er estimated for each city by ratio of change from 193436 to 1950 for 6 cities (as for Method A ). Estimated average expenditures for
owned housing b y all fa m ilie s calculated as product of estimated costs per home
owner and percent of home owners (obtained from dwelling unit survey), and con­
verted to percent of estimated total expenditures of all families (defined in Method
D ).
Same as K except with ratio of change from 1934-36 to su rv e y date , i. e., not adjusted
to 1950 as in K .
Same as K with home owner expenditures estimated for w a ge-ea rn er clerical-w orker
fa m ilie s and converted to a percent of estimated total expenditures of wage-earner
clerical-worker families.
5 - City Regression— Ratio of expenditures for home-owner costs (less repairs) to
rent, 5 cities, 1950 (excluding Manchester) with O ASI income, 1948. Home-owner
costs calculated by applying the ratio derived from this regression to dwelling unit
survey rent for each city. Repairs estimated by Method A. Total home-owner
expenditures converted to a percent of estimated total expenditures for all families
(defined in Method D ).
Method A for home-owner costs and Method H for rent.
6 - City Regression— Average food expenditures for wage-earner clerical-worker
families, 1950, 6 cities, with State per capita income. Food expenditures converted
to percent of estimated total expenditures of wage-earner clerical-worker families
(defined in Method D ).
6-C ity Regression— Expenditures for auto operation from all families, 6 cities, 1950,
with percent of families owning cars. Latter estimated for each city from car regis­
trations, reduced by 6-city ratio of survey data to registration data. Expenditures
converted to percent of estimated total expenditures of all families (defined in
Method D ).
Estimates of relative importance by Method A adjusted by ratio of deviations from
survey data (1950) to average change in State per capita income from 1935 to 1949.

APPENDIXES
Dollar expenditures estimated by series of ratios and regressions, using percent of
families owning cars estimated from survey data for 6 cities and car registrations
for all cities, survey data on average expenditures in 6 cities and State per capita
income in all cities. Expenditures converted to percent of estimated total expendi­
tures for all families (defined in Method D ).
Method U : Multiple 6-city regression with zero intercept— average expenditures for auto pur­
chase for all families, 1950, with percent of families owning cars estimated from 1949
car registrations reduced to survey percent and 1949 State per capita income. Ex­
penditures converted to percent of estimated total expenditures for all families
(defined in Method D ) .

Method T :




43

44

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI

Appendix H
T

able

H - l : G r o u p in g o f f a m i l y ex pen d itu re data used in obta ining w eights f o r va riou s in d e x e s , b y grou p
F O O D IN D E X

Family expenditures for—

Represented in the index by—

C erea ls a n d b a k e ry p ro d u c ts
Cereals:
Flour, wheat...................... .
Flour mixes..... ............... .....
Ready-to-bake biscuits_____
Uncooked wheat cereal_____
Macaroni, etc.................... ..

M e a ts , p o u ltr y , a n d fis h —Continued

jcom flakes.

Com meal--------------- -------

Com meal.

Rice.......... ...................

Rice.

Rolled oats------ --------Other uncooked cereals.

JRolled oats.

Cornstarch, popcorn.

[Weighted average of prices for all
\ priced cereals.

Cookies........
Cake..... .......
Pies...............
Doughnuts, sweet rolls, pastry---Other bakery products.

jBread, white.

Vanilla cookies.
jLayer cake.
Weighted average of prices for vanilla
cookies and layer cake.
[Weighted average of prices for all
\ prieed bakery products.

chickens, New York dressed,
Iressed and drawn.

All poultry__ ____ _____________

^

Game......................................... .

fWeighted average of prices for all
l priced meats and poultry.

•Flour, wheat.

Corn flakes..___ _________
Other ready-to-eat cereals----

Bakery products:
Bread______
Crackers___
Plain rolls__

Represented in the index b y -

Family expenditures for-

Fish:
All fresh or frozen fish......... ......
All canned fish.........................
Cured, smoked, other fish.

Fish, fresh or frozen.
Salmon, pink.
[Weighted average of prices for all
\ priced fish.

D a ir y p ro d u c ts
Butter............... ...................

Butter.

Cheese and cheese spreads___

Cheese.

Fresh milk________________
Buttermilk_______________
Skimmed milk_____________
Chocolate milk____________
Cream............. ........ .............

•Milk, fresh, delivered and grocery.

Ice cream...............................

Ice cream.

Evaporated milk___________
Condensed milk—___ ______
Powdered milk____________

■Milk, evaporated.

Other dairy products.

[Weighted average of prices for^all
\ priced dairy products.

Eggs
M e a ts , p o u ltr y , a n d fis h

Eggs-------------------------------

Beef:
All beefsteak........ .............

F r u its a n d vegetables
Round steak.

Rib roast--........ -.............

Rib roast.

Chuck roast.......................

Chuck roast.

Other roast.

[Weighted average of prices for rib and
\ chuck roast.

HamburgerStew meat—
j-Frankfurters.

Corned, dried beef, etc.

[Weighted average of prices for all
L priced beef and frankfurters.

Pork:
All chops. _
Fresh pork.
Fresh ham.
Bacon.
Smoked or cured ham.
Picnics (shoulder)___
Butts, etc..... ....... .....
Salt pork.
Liver.
All lamb.

Veal cutlets.

J-Pork chops.
Bacon, sliced.
|Ham, whole.

Bananas.

Oranges—. ................
Lemons___________
Grapefruit________

|Oranges.

Fresh vegetables:
Beans, green, wax, lima______

[Weighted average of prices for all
priced beef, frankfurters, veal and
[ pork.
Lamb, leg.

Beans, green, fresh.

Cabbage............. .......

Cabbage.

Carrots____________

Carrots.

Lettuce_______ _____

Lettuce.

Onions, dry and green.

Onions.

Potatoes.....................

Potatoes.

Sweetpotatoes.

Sweetpotatoes.

Tomatoes........ ...............
All other fresh vegetables.

Salt pork.

Tongue, heart, etc., canned, frozen, [Weighted average of prices for all
and other meats.
\ priced meats.




Apples.

Bananas............. .....

All other fresh fruits and all [Weighted average of prices for all
\ priced fresh fruits.
fresh fruit juices.

Frankfurters___
Bologna_______
Smoked sausage.
Cold cuts_____

All veal.

Fresh fruits and vegetables:
Fresh fruits:
Apples. .....................

Eggs, fresh.

Frozen fruits and vegetables:
Strawberries______________

Tomatoes.
[Weighted average of prices for all
\ priced fresh vegetables.
Strawberries, frozen.

Orange juice, concentrated- ._

Orange juice, concentrated, frozen.

Other frozen fruits and juices.

'Weighted average of prices for frozen
i strawberries and orange juice.

All frozen vegetables.............

Peas, frozen.

45

APPENDIXES
T able

H - l : Grouping of family expenditure data used in obtaining weights for various indexes, by group— Continued
FOOD INDEX— Continued

Family expenditures for—

Represented in the index by—

F r u its a n d vegetables —Continued
Canned fruits and vegetables:
Canned fruits:
Peaches................... .

B evera g es —Continued
Cola drinks........ ................................
Other carbonated drinks....................

Peaches, canned.

All other canned fruits and (Weighted average of prices for all
\ priced canned fruits.
fruit juices.
Canned vegetables:
All canned corn.............. .......

Corn, canned, cream style.

Tomatoes and tomato prod­
ucts.

Tomatoes, canned.

Peas.......... ....... .....................

Peas, canned.

All other canned vegetables
and vegetable juices and
soups.

Weighted average of pricesfor canned
com, tomatoes, and peas.

All baby foods_____________

1

Baby foods, strained.
Dried fruits and vegetables:
Prunes___________________
Apricots__________________ Prunes, dried.
Raisins, etc.-------- --------------

F a ts a n d o ils
Lard___ ______ _______
Beef suet, etc__________

jLard.

Vegetable shortening____
Other shortening_______
Salad and cooking oils___

|Shortening, hydrogenated.

Salad dressing, cooked__
Mayonnaise___________
Other special dressing___

|Salad dressing, cooked.

Margarine_____________
Peanut butter, other fats and oils

Margarine.
(Weighted average of prices for all fats
l and oils.

S u g a r a n d sw ee ts
Sugar, white.

All sugar................... ...................

Navy beans_______________
Other beans_______________ jNavy beans.
Peanuts__________________
Other dried fruits, vegetables, (Weighted average of prices for all
\ priced dried fruits and vegetables.
and nuts.

Apple butter.
Jellies______
Jams_______
Preserves___

j-Grape jelly.

All other sweets.

\

B evera g es
Coffee_______________ ________ ___
Tea____ ________________________
Cocoa___________________________

Cola drinks.

Malted milk, other nonalcoholic bev­ Weighted average of prices for all
. priced beverages.
erages.

Pineapple, canned.

Pineapple.

Represented in the index by—

Family expenditures for—

(Weighted average of prices for all
priced sugar and sweets.

M isc e lla n e o u s
Prepared foods, all miscellaneous and (Weighted average of prices for all
l priced food items.
other foods.

Coffee.

A P P A R E L IN D E X

M en ’s A pparel

C o tto n —Continued

W ool
Overcoats, full length or fingertip
length.
Snow suits______ ______ __________ J-Overcoats.
Ski suits_______________ __________
Topcoats......................... .................... Topcoats.
All 3 and 4 piece wool suits____ _____ Suits: 14-15 oz. medium quality;
2 piece heavy wool suits____________
13-13^ oz., medium quality; 13Wool sport coats__________________
13H o z ., inexpensive quality.

2piece light wool suits....... .......... ......

Suits, tropical.

Dress slacks___________ ______ ____
Trousers, wool____________________ j-Slacks, dress.
Slacks, knickers___________________
Sweaters, wool, pull-over and coat style. Jsweaters.
Sweaters, rayon and cotton_________

C otton

Suits, cotton_____________________
Trousers, slacks, dress, cotton............. j-Suits, cotton.
Trousers, work, cotton, cotton and
wool.
J-Trousers, work.
Uniforms, costumes_______ _______
Overalls, bib style or waistband,
dungarees, overall jumpers..............
Jackets and coveralls______________ •Overalls.
Special work clothing. .......................
Shirts, work, cotton_______ ____ ___
Shirts, sport, wool or cotton, woven
or knit.

Shirts, work.

Gloves, work__________

Gloves, work.

Shirts, business and dress.

Shirts, business, nationally advertised
L and not nationally advertised.




M en ’s A pparel—Continued
Pajamas. ___________ ____
Nightshirts____ __________
Shorts, woven or knit...........
Briefs____________________

jshorts, 100 x 60 and 80 x 60.

Undershirts, light and heavy.
Other underwear__________

Jundershirts.

Union suits_______________
Heavy drawers____ ____ ___

junion suits.

Socks, cotton_____________

Socks, dress, cotton.

R a y o n a n d n y lo n
Suits, rayon______________________
Trousers, slacks, dress, other than -Suits, rayon.
wool and cotton_________________
Slack suits, etc___________________
Socks, rayon, dress________________ JSocks, dress, rayon.
Socks, other than cotton and rayon__

O ther a p p a r e l
Jackets, leather melton cloth, wool,
and other than wool, water repellent. Jackets, leather.
Raincoats_______________________
Hats, felt, straw, cotton, wool, rayon.. _ jHats, felt.
Caps, helmets___ _____ ___________

F o o tw ea r
Shoes, street or dress.......... .........
Shoes, sport and athletic..............
Houseslippers_________________
Shoes, work, regular; work, safety.

(Shoes, street, medium quality.
(Shoes, street, inexpensive.
jshoes, work.

46

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI
T able

H - l : Grouping of family expenditure data used in obtaining weights for various indexes, by group— Continued
APPAREL INDEX— Continued

Family expenditures for—

Represented in the index by—

Family expenditures for—

M en ’s A pparel—Continued
F o o tw ea r —Continued

M is c e lla n e o u s
average of prices for all
[Weighted
priced items in the men’s apparel
group.

W omen’s A pparel
W ool
fur-trimmed with and withCoats, wool, heavy, dress with fur----- \fCoats,
out interlining.
Coats, wool, heavy, dress, no fur____
Coats, wool, heavy, sport------ ---------Snow suits, ski suits.............. .............. Coats, sport, heavy, with and with­
out interlining.
Leggings, ski pants------- ------ ----------Sweaters_________________________
Raincoats or rainjackets........ - ............
Coats, wool, light, sport___ ________
Coats, wool, light, dress____________ jcoats, sport, lightweight wool.
Coats, other than wool.____________
Suits, wool................................ ........
Skirts, wool......................... ...............
Jackets____________________ ______ ►Suits, wool.
Suits, other than wool______________
Skirts, rayon or cotton_____________
Dresses, wool, street_____ __________

W omen’s A pparel—Continued
O ther a p p a r e l

Protective rubber footwear: Rubbers,
arctics, galoshes, boots.
Sandals, play shoes, sneakers, loafers, J-Rubbers.
etc.
Shorts, bathing suits, bathrobes,
lounging robes, athletic supporters,
handkerchiefs, dress gloves, ties,
accessories, jewelry, etc.

Represented in the index by-

Dresses, wool.

C o tto n
Dresses, cotton, street.............. .......... Dresses, street.
Cotton housedresses...... ......................
Aprons, smocks, etc_______________ ►Housedresses.
Special work clothing______ _______
Uniforms, costumes, etc____ _______
Nightgowns, cotton and other than
rayon.
j-Nightgowns.
Pajamas, cotton or wool......................
Gloves, other than leather................. . Gloves, fabric.

R a y o n , n y lo n , a n d s ilk
All blouses and shirts_____________ _ Blouses, rayon.

Coats, fur____________ ___________
Fur scarfs, muffs, etc_________ ____ jcoats, fur.
Corsets___________________ ______
Girdles__________________________ joirdles.
Garter belts______________________
Brassieres_____ ____ ______ ____ ___
Gloves, leather______ ______ ______

Gloves, leather.

F o o tw e a r
Shoes, oxford, street, dress, sport,
work.
Oxfords and ties_________ ________
Loafers, other leather shoes_________
Nonleather shoes____ _____ _______ >Shoes, street, oxford.
Athletic shoes, play shoes__________
Beach shoes, sneakers______________
Houseslippers_______________ ____
Rubbers, boots, etc________________
Shoes, pumps, sandals, straps_______

Shoes, street, pump.

M is c e lla n e o u s
Felt hats, straw hats, other hats; head
scarfs, etc., handbags, leather; other
handbags, handkerchiefs, umbrellas,
belts, accessories, jewelry, etc_____

Weighted average of prices for all
priced items infthe women’s ap­
parel group.

B oys’ A pparel
W ool
All wool suits.......... .......................... •|Suits.
Wool sport coats------- ------ ------ -----Trousers, dress, wool......................
Overcoats.................................... ......
Topcoats................................. ...........
Jackets, wool or melton cloth, leather,
other...... ............ ...........................
Sweaters, wool, coat style or pull-over;
rayon, cotton, other........................
Snow suits, ski suits.................... ......
Raincoats...........................................

Slacks.

Mackinaws, wool, mixture.

C o tto n
Slacks,knickers, short pants, trousers,
cotton or rayon------------------------Work or dress, cotton suit_________ j-Slacks.
Slacksuit, trunks, bathing suits_____
Overalls, bib style, waist band; dun­
garees, overall jumpers and jackets.
Coveralls__________ ________ _____ 1Jeans.
Special work clothing-------------------Uniforms, etc.---------------------- ------

Dresses, street:
RayOn and silk............... ............. Dresses:
Street, rayon, prints, medium
Cotton and rayon______________
and inexpensive quality.
Formal and semiformal_________
Street, rayon, solid colors, med­
Jumpers___ ______________________ )
ium and inexpensive quality.
Sport slacks, slack suits.___________
Street, spun rayon, gabardine.
Shorts, play suits_________________
Wash,
pigmented rayon, prints.
Bathing suits, etc_________________

Shirts, dress and school----------- -----Shirts, work cotton; sport shirtwoven,
cotton, wool and other---------------Pajamas------------------------------------Nightshirts--------------------------------Bathrobes-----------------------------------

Shirts, sport, short and long sleeves.

Shirts, sport, knit___________ ____

Shirts, polo, short and long sleeves.

Slips and petticoats, rayon and nylon,
other than rayon.
|Slips, rayon.
Vests, undershirts___ _____________

Shorts, woven; briefs, knit...............
Drawers, heavy__________________
Undershirts, light or heavy________
Unionsuits________ ____ __________
Other underwear_________________

Nightgowns, rayon or silk__________
Pajamas, silk____ ____ _______ ____ _ jNightgowns, rayon.
Robes, bathrobes, etc.........................
All panties, bloomers and briefs_____ Jpanties, rayon.
Other underwear__________________
Hose, rayon, plain and mesh.
Hose, other_______ ______ _
Anklets, cotton___________
Hose, nylon, plain and mesh.
Anklets, other than cotton...




Hose, nylon, 45 gauge, 30 denier.
’Hose, nylon, 51 gauge, 15 denier.

Ishorts.

F o o tw ea r
All shoes, slippers, boots, rubbers, etc. Shoes, oxfords.

M is c e lla n e o u s
Cotton, wool, rayon, felt hats; caps, Weighted average of prices forTall
helmets; cotton, rayon, other socks; \ priced items in the boys’ apparel
handkerchiefs, ties, belts, accesso­ fgroup.
ries, jewelry, etc., gloves............ .....

47

APPENDIXES
T able H -l :

Grouping of family expenditure data used in obtaining weights for various indexes, by group— Continued
APPAREL INDEX—Continued

Family expenditures for—

Represented in the index by—

Family expenditures for-

Represented in the index by—

G irls’ A pparel—Continued

Girls' A pparel
W ool

M is c e lla n e o u s

Coats, wool, other..............................
Suits, wool, other.......... ...................
Skirts, wool, rayon and/or cotton____
Snow suits, ski suits..........................
Leggings, ski pants..........................
Jackets, sweaters, raincoats............... .

Felt, straw, cloth hats; head scarfs,
bands, etc.; girdles, garter belts,
brassieres; leather gloves; leather
and other handbags; umbrellas, belts
and accessories, jewelry, etc., other
gloves and mittens, other clothing.

Coats, wool, with and without inter­
lining.

Cotton

I nfants’ Apparel

Dresses; cotton, wool, rayon or silk, | Dresses.
cotton and rayon.............................

All infants’ clothing..... ....................... Diapers.

M aterials

All slips and petticoats........ ..............
Vests, undershirts................. ............. •Slips.
Nightgowns........................................
All pajamas, robes, etc.......................

Men’s and boys’ shoe repairs, shines, | Men’s half soles and heels.
cleaning, etc.

Anklets.

Footwear

All shoes, sandals, sneakers, house
slippers, rubbers, galoshes, and other
protective footwear.

and S ervices

All dry cleaning, pressing, storage,
blocking, seamstress, tailor, repair,
dyeing, dry cleaning fluid, etc., ex­ •Dry cleaning and pressing.
cept household furnishings.

All panties, bloomers, briefs............... } Panties.
Other underwear...........................—
All anklets and stockings........... .......

Weighted average of prices for all
priced items in the girls’ apparel
group.

Shoes, oxfords.

Women’s and girls’ shoe repairs, | Women’s heel lifts.
shines, cleaning, etc.
Yard goods, yam, findings................

Yard goods: rayon crepe, percale.

F U E L .l E L E C T R IC IT Y , A N D R E F R IG E R A T IO N I N D E X

Gas.

Gas:
Residential heating (million
B.t. u.).
Other than residential heating:
10.6 therms—range.
19.6 therms—range and man­
ual type water heater.
30.6 therms—range, auto­
matic storage tank or in­
stantaneous water heater.
40.6 therms—range, auto­
matic storage tank or in­
stantaneous water heater
,
and refrigerator.

Electricity.

Electricity:
25 kw. hr.l Lighting and small
40 kw. hr./ appliances.
100 kw. hr., lighting, appliances,
and refrigeration.
250 kw. hr., lighting, appliances,
.
refrigerators, and range.

Coal: Anthracite:
Pennsylvania, white ash:
Stove.
Chestnut.

Coal: Anthracite L

Buckwheat No. 1.
Coal: Bituminous:
Low and medium volatile:
Lump.
Egg.
Stove.
Nut.
Stoker.
Run of mine.
High volatile, Eastern:
Lump.
Egg.
Nut.
Stoker.
High volatile, Western:
Lump.
Egg.
Nut.
Stoker.
Lignite: Lump.
Bituminous processed fuels: Fire­
balls, solorite, etc.

Coal: Bituminous*.

Coke3___

f Coke:
Nut.
I
Egg.

\

Briquets3.

Briquets.

Wood

Wood: Cordwood, soft.

Sawdust..

Sawdust.

Fuel oil *.

’ Fueloil:
Kerosene.
Range oil.
Fuel oil No. 1.
Fuel oil No. 2.
Fuel oil No. 100.
Fuel oil No. 200.




Ice.

[Ice:
<
Delivered.
I
Cash and carry.

1Becau.se of considerable variation between cities and regions in the type
of fuel used this diagram shows all items of fuel as being priced with the gen­
eral pattern of imputation shown in the succeeding footnotes.
* Weight for anthracite, when not priced, is generally imputed to bituminous
coal. Weight for bituminous coal, when not priced, is generally imputed to
anthracite.
3Weight for coke and briquets is generally imputed to anthracite and/or
bituminous coal. If coal is not priced, the weight is prorated over the heat­
ing fuels subgroup (heating fuels subgroup includes all priced fuel, light, and
refrigeration items except ice, electricity, and gas used for other than space
heating).
4Weight for wood is generally prorated over the heating fuels subgroup.
8Weight for fuel oils not priced is generally imputed to kerosene; when
kerosene is not priced, the weight is prorated to electricity, gas, and coal.
Weight for kerosene is imputed to fuel oils or, if they are not priced, to elec­
tricity, gas, and coal.

48

INTERIM ADJUSTMENT OF CPI
T able

H - l : Grouping of family expenditure data used in obtaining weights for various indexest by group— Continued
HOUSEFURNISHINGS INDEX

Family expenditures for—

Represented in the index by—

Represented in the index by—

Family expenditures for—

T e x tile fu r n is h in g s — Continued

F u r n itu r e
Living room suites.
Chairs__________

1Living room suites, medium and in/ expensive quality.

Dinette sets______
Kitchen furniture__

Sheets______________ ___________ _
Pillow cases---------------------------------- jsheets, muslin.
Table linen________________ ____

|Dinette set, chrome.

Bath mats, table pads, yam, trim­
mings, etc______________________
Other household textiles___ ________

Dining room suites.
Buffets__________
China cabinets___
Benches_________
Stools___________
Hassocks________
Bedroom suites___
Dressers_________
Chests.................
Vanities_________

Dining room suites, medium quality.

Bedroom suites, medium and inex­
pensive quality.

(

Desks.....................
Bookcases_______
Record cabinets___
Tables__________

kWeighted average of prices for bed­
room and dining room suites.

Bedsprings_______
Beds____________
Cots........... ...........
Cribs.____ ______

j-Bedsprings,

average of prices for dinette
{Weighted
sets, dining room suites, bedroom

Sofas____________________
Sofa beds________________
Studio couches___________

|Sofa beds.

suites, bedsprings.

JRefrigerators, electric.

Washing machines___________
Mechanical dryers___________

JWashing machines, electric.

Sewing machines_____________

Sewing machines, electric.

Vacuum cleaners_____________

Vacuum cleaners, electric.

Irons_________________ _____
Hot plate___________________
Small electrical equipment_____

J-Toaster, electric.
Cook stoves, gas.

Electric light bulbs___________
Fans, electric________________
Canning equipment___________
Carpet sweepers______________
Ironing machines_____________
Heating stoves, heaters________
Typewriters_________________

IWeighted "average of prices of all
priced household appliances.

O ther h o u sefu rn ish in g s

T e x tile fu rn ish in g s

Linoleum________________

H o u seh o ld a p p lia n c e s
Refrigerators, mechanical and ice.
Deep freeze unit____ _________

Cook stoves_________________

coil.

Porch, garden, and other furniture......

Carpet, rugs.

Weighted average of prices of all
priced textile furnishings.

Dishes___________________________
Glassware________________________
Flatware_________________________ Dinnerware.
Servingdishes, bowls, pitchers, kitchen
crockery and glassware___________

(Rugs, Axminster.
IRugs, cotton.
Rugs, felt base.

Mattresses_______________
Pillows__________________

j-Mattresses, innerspring construction.

Blankets_________________
Comforters_______________
Quilts___________________

j-Blankets: 100 percent virgin wool.

Brooms.

Brooms, brushes, mops, pails, etc____

Pots, pans_______________________ Jpans, aluminum.
Pressure cooker___________________

Towels__________________

Towels, cotton, terry.

Curtains.____ __________
Draperies________________
Slip covers_______________
Yard goods for—
curtains, tablecovers___
bedspreads, couch covers.

Curtains, cotton marquisette.

Wash tub, board, wringer boiler, etc...
Ironing board_____________________ Weighted average of prices of dinnerClothes basket____________________ [ ware, brooms, aluminum pans.
Other kitchen equipment----------------

M isc e lla n e o u s
Weighted average of prices of all
priced items in housefurnishings
index.

Allother household equipment.
MISCELLANEOUS INDEX

T r a n sp o rta tio n : A u to m o b ile — Continuedj

T r a n s p o r ta tio n : A u to m o b ile
Automobile purchase.
Gasoline________
Oil and lubricants.
Tires and recaps. _
Tubes______ ____

delivered price:
{Automobiles,
Ford.
Chevrolet.
Plymouth.
Gasoline, regular.

Parking and garage rentOther operating expenses.

Repairs, parts, servicing, etc.

Interurban public transportation____
Plane fares_______________________

Drivers' and automobile licenses and
taxes________________ __________




Major brake adjustment.
Automobile insurance, public liabil­
ity, bodily injury and property
damage.
1Automobile licenses and fees for
/ Ford, Plymouth, and Chevrolet.

Railroad fares.

Local public transportation.

/Streetcar:
Cash.
Token, ticket.
Weekly pass.
Bus:
Cash.
Token, ticket.
Weekly pass.

Rent for an automobile_____
Shared car pool expenses____
Taxi fares_________________
Motorcycles, boats, etc______
Other transportation expenses.

Weighted average of prices of rail­
road, streetcar and bus fares.

lubrication.
{Chassis
Front end suspension.
All insurance.

portation.

T r a n s p o r ta tio n : O ther th a n a u to m o b ile

Motor oil.
jTires, balloon 6.00 x 16.

average of prices of all
{Weighted
priced items^of automobile trans­

49

APPENDIXES
T able

H - l : Grouping of family expenditure data used in obtaining weights for various indexes, by group— Continued
MISCELLANEOUS INDEX— Continued

Represented in the index by—

Family expenditures for—

Family expenditures for—

M e d ic a l care

P e r s o n a l care

Group hospitalization.

Group hospitalization.

Physicians’, surgeons’, and specialists’
fees............ -------- ----------------------

Physician:
Office visits.
House visits.
Obstetrical case.
Surgeon: appendectomy.
.Specialist: tonsillectomy.

Dental care.

i

Haircuts_______ _____________ ___
Shaves__________________________ jBarber services, men’s haircuts.
Beauty shop services, waves and 1Beauty shop services, shampoo and
shampoos.
j wave set.
shop services, permanent
Permanent waves_________________ \fBeauty
wave.

Dentist:
Usual fee for an adult.
Filling.
Extraction.

Manicures and other services.
Home permanent supplies.

Home permanent wave refill.

Hospital rates:
Men’s pay ward.
Semiprivate room.
Private room.

Toilet soap____________

Toilet soap.

Toothpaste____________
Mouthwashes_________
Shaving soap__________
Shampoos_____________

►Toothpaste.

Cosmetics, perfumes, etc.

Face powder.

Cleansing tissues, sanitary supplies__

Sanitary napkins.

Brushes, combs, razors, files, etc.

Razor blades.

I
1

Hospital care..

Represented in the index by—

Oculist, optometrist, eye care includ- \ Optometrist: eyeglasses complete,
ihg glasses----- --------------------------- j including examination.
Group medical care____
Combined hospital bills-.

(Weighted average of prices of all
prieed items of medical care, ex­
cluding drugs and prescriptions.

Prescriptions and drugs.

Prescriptions, nonnarcotic capsules.
Prescriptions, narcotic.
Aspirin.
Quinine.
Iodine.
Milk of magnesia.

Osteopath, chiropractor, faith healer...
Clinic care____________________
Weighted average of prices of all
Laboratory tests and X-rays-------priced items of medical care.
Nursing care --------------------------Appliances and supplies___ _____
Other medical care--------- ’______

R ecrea tio n

fWeighted average of prices of priced
\ beauty shop services.

H o u seh o ld o p e ra tio n s
Telephone.
Telegraph.

rates, per month.

Wages and tips to maids, baby sitters,
etc........................ ......... .................. j-Domestic service, day workers.
Child care_______________________
Laundry and dry cleaning (excluding 1Laundry service, thrifty,
clothing) sent out.
/Laundry service, economy.

Newspaper.----- ---------------------------Magazines_______________________ Newspapers:
Books (excluding school and technical) - )■ On the street.
Delivered to home.
Books, rental and library fees----------Other reading expenses_____________

Laundry and cleaning supplies.

Movies and other paid admissions...... Motion-picture admissions, adults.

Postage__________________________ Postage.

Radios___________________ ______
Radio-phonograph combination sets— J-Radio, table model.
Phonographs--------------------------------

Water rent_______________________
Water-softening service_____________ Water rents.

Children’s toys and play equipment.. Velocipede.
Television sets-----------------------------Television combination sets________ j-Television sets.
Installation and service------------------Athletic clothing__________________
Pianos and other musical instruments.
Repairs of musical instruments--------Phonograph records, sheet music------- Weighted average of prices of all
Hobbies_________________________ > priced recreation items excluding
Pets, etc_________________________
television sets.
Photographic equipment—__________
Dues to social clubs, etc____________
Equipment, fees, licenses for games,
etc.




(Laundry soap, yellow, wrapped.
\Laundry soap, granulated.

Paper products___ ________________

Toilet paper.

J

Stationery, pencils, ink...___ _______
Moving expenses__________________
Freight and express________________ Weighted average of prices of all
Other household operations (exclud­
priced items in the household
ing flower seeds, bulbs, fertilizers). [ operations.group.
Garbage disposal--------------------------Servicing and repair of equipment___

Tobacco a n d alcoh olic beverages
Cigars...... ............... ............................
Cigarettes— .............. .......................

Cigars.

Other tobacco and smokers’ supplies,. Cigarettes.
Alcoholic beverages.......................... .

Pipe tobacco.
Beer.

U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING O FFIC E: I9S2