Customers shop at the opening of the Raley’s in South Land Park in Sacramento on Wednesday, April 15, 2020.
Daniel Kim
dkim@sacbee.com
Data from the Sacramento region will be used for one of the country’s key inflation gauges, the Consumer Price Index.
Federal statisticians will begin collecting data from the Sacramento region for one of the country’s key inflation gauges, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced this month.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a way for the bureau to measure changes in the cost of goods and services on a month-to-month and year-to-year basis. The index tracks what U.S. households pay for groceries, dining out, gasoline, used and new cars and an array of 200 categories divided into eight groups including housing, apparel and medical care, according to the BLS website. It is widely used in economic policy, and informs changes to wages, rent prices, Social Security benefits, pensions and interest rates.
Beginning in October, Labor Department employees will visit homes and retail establishments in Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties to conduct interviews.
The Bureau said Sacramento is one of six geographic areas that will be introduced to the index starting in 2028, along with Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Indianapolis, Pittsfield, Massachusetts and Punta Gorda, Florida.
The adjustments were made in light of the population data reflected in the 2020 census, according to the bureau’s website. The agency last updated the geographic areas in 2018, in response to the 2010 census.
U.S. Department of Labor employees will make in-person visits to retail establishments after surveying residents on where they bought various goods and services, according to the BLS website. Data collectors will also gather information on the local housing market.
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Annika Merrilees is a business reporter for The Sacramento Bee. She previously spent five years covering business and healthcare for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.