The US Labor Department, specifically the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), caused confusion on Wall Street with an email concerning the consumer price index (CPI) for January. The email aimed to explain a significant jump in January's CPI, particularly highlighting an unusual surge in rental inflation. This was attributed to an adjustment in how CPI subcomponents are weighted, specifically mentioning a change in the owners equivalent rent (OER) metric. The BLS initially sent this explanation to a group of data "super users", suggesting that the adjustment, which increased the proportion of OER weighted toward single-family-detached homes by approximately 5%, caused the surge. This adjustment led to a 0.2ppt gap between OER and Rent, the largest since 1993. However, the BLS later attempted to retract the email, advising recipients to disregard its contents. Despite this, there has been no update from the BLS to clarify the situation further. The incident has led to widespread confusion and discussions among economists and market watchers.
BLS Tries to End Confusion Over CPI Data After Email Stirs Drama https://t.co/QrIiMXTQqf
BLS Tries to End Confusion Over CPI Data After Email Stirs Drama https://t.co/JrFtKExata
The tweet below is FAKE news U.S. home prices, as measured by the Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, rose +5.5% in 2023 At the end of 2023, national existing single-family home prices were +0.8% above the 2022 peak (June '22) https://t.co/GmpOWexYE8
The @BLS_gov issued a clarification on why OER was much stronger than Rent in January #CPI release (0.2ppt gap was largest since 1993) "In Jan 2024, the proportion of OER weighted toward single-family-detached homes increased by approximately 5%" https://t.co/RZpmPf1gFQ https://t.co/fQEIvLpD6p
The BLS sent an email to "super users" explaining a weird, unexpected jump in owners equivalent rent in January, which contributed to the bad January inflation numbers. Then retracted it. So maybe they got it too high? @boes_ with the scoop. https://t.co/ActuRqJYud via @economics
Perhaps the most surprising element of the last CPI report was an unusual jump in a key housing metric called OER. But things got even more confusing after learning BLS sent an email to so-called "super users" this week with more details on it w/ @boes_ https://t.co/nl3Z8iekJg
Still no update from BLS on this... The US Labor Department sowed confusion on Wall Street this week with an email about a key factor behind the jump in January’s consumer price index https://t.co/062OMmhR6m via @economics
Biden's Labor Department Sparks Confusion With Email "Explaining" January CPI Spike https://t.co/UJCxxSO0R7
WHAT?!?! The BLS emailed a group of data “super users” suggesting a surge in rental inflation was caused by an adjustment to how subcomponents of the CPI are weighted. One recipient said the BLS tried to retract it and were told to disregard its contents https://t.co/3wpvqN1DPs
"US Labor Department Sows Confusion With Email on Consumer Prices" via @Bloomberg @Business https://t.co/Y9IuzTX8zw
The US Labor Department sowed confusion on Wall Street this week with an email about a key factor behind the jump in January’s consumer price index https://t.co/UNdtVAwpwX via @economics https://t.co/mGyNUOjh6j
The US Labor Department sowed confusion on Wall Street this week with an email about a key factor behind the jump in January’s consumer price index https://t.co/8yObnVHk19
US Labor Department Sows Confusion With Email on Consumer Prices https://t.co/CzGplh4kRR