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Activity Number:
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556
- Revisions
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Type:
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Contributed
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Date/Time:
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Thursday, August 11, 2022 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
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Sponsor:
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Government Statistics Section
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Abstract #320759
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Title:
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The Impact of Alternative Inflation Adjustments on CPS ASEC Income Statistics
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Author(s):
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Matthew Unrath* and Jessica Semega and Melissa Kollar
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Companies:
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Census Bureau and Census Bureau and Census Bureau
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Keywords:
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Income;
Poverty;
Inflation;
Price Index;
Earnings
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Abstract:
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In its annual report on income and poverty, the U.S. Census Bureau presents income and earnings statistics that are adjusted for changes in price (inflation) to account for the cost of living over time. A variety of price indices produced by federal statistical agencies are available for this adjustment. Currently, the adjustment uses the Retroactive Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers Research Series (R-CPI-U-RS) provided by the BLS. This adjustment could have potential biases that may under- or overstate the change in prices due to not properly accounting for substitution among goods and services as relative prices change. This paper will explore the impact of using chained type price indices -- including the Chained Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) produced by BLS and the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCEPI) produced by BEA -- to inflation adjust earnings and income based on recommendations by an Interagency Technical Working Group on Consumer Inflation Measures. We will compare the use of these alternative series to the current method to understand the impact on historical median earnings and income dating back to 1967.
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Authors who are presenting talks have a * after their name.
