BLS DAILY REPORT, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1996 RELEASED TODAY: The U.S. Import Price Index fell 0.1 percent in November. The decrease was attributable to dips in both petroleum and nonpetroleum prices. The U.S. Export Price Index, paced by the continued decrease in agricultural prices, fell 0.5 percent in November .... BLS Commissioner Abraham challenges a key finding of the Advisory Commission to Study the Consumer Price Index -- the quantity of upward bias in the index caused by the failure to adequately adjust for quality improvements. Abraham says "hard empirical evidence regarding the magnitude of the biases from these sources is extremely limited." The commission's report, released Dec. 4, does not give much guidance how to improve the procedures for adjusting for quality changes, Abraham says ....(Daily Labor Report, pages 1,AA-1,E-6). __"Not so fast, fellas. That was the message delivered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to the White House, the Federal Reserve, the Congress and a distinguished panel of economists, all of whom have said that the agency has overstated the rate of inflation. The downward revision they imagine could save the government billions of dollars in cost of living raises for retirees." The BLS's top official told a packed news conference she remains unconvinced that the closely watched CPI overstates the inflation rate by 1.1 percentage points each year ....Abraham said many of the changes urged by the Boskin Commission would require her agency to make subjective judgments about improvements in the quality of products that go well beyond what a government statistical agency should do. And some of the commission's recommendations to take better account of small changes in consumer spending patterns actually might result in a higher rather than a lower CPI, she warned. Abraham emphasized that she was not dismissing or criticizing the work done by the commission ....But at the same time, she made it clear that she would resist attempts to "politicize" the statistical agency by forcing it to adjust its methods to solve the balanced budget impasse ....(Washington Post, page A21). __In the first formal response to calls for a reduction in the index that measures inflation, the head of the agency that compiles the statistics said today that no significant remedies could be adopted before 1999. "There is not a lot, in the short term at least, for us to be doing," Abraham said at a briefing ....Although a few refinements of the CPI are under way, her statement means that, if the index is to be changed to produce significant savings, Congress rather than the government will have to do the job .... (New York Times, page A25). __The head of BLS criticized a recent proposal to change the CPI, arguing that the proposal uses questionable criteria to show the index overstates inflation. Abraham took aim at a high-profile report ....saying the report relies too heavily on subjective data, while her bureau continues to use more objective criteria. She added that the bureau already regularly updates the way it measures the CPI in order to reflect changes in the economy and consumer spending habits .... (Wall Street Journal, page A2). __Data from the Employment and Training Administration shows new claims rose 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 351,000 during the week ended Dec. 14. It was the highest level of initial claims since July ....(Daily Labor Report, page D-1). __Claims for jobless benefits edged up slightly last week to the highest level since July ....(Washington Post, page G2). __New applications for unemployment insurance in the U.S. rose to their highest level in five months last week, tempering financial market fears that employment is growing rapidly and sending stocks and bonds soaring ....(Wall Street Journal, page A2).
