Workshop: Data Analysis for Use During Collective Bargaining

Which CPI?• CPI-U: All Urban Consumers -Excludes rural, nonmetropolitan areas, farm families, persons in the ArmedServices, and those in institutions (e.g., prisons, mental hospitals)-Captures substitution across item categories by adjusting for shifts in consumer expenditure patterns; BLS "closest approximation" to true cost of living -National only; historical since 12/99; data lags ("initial" then "interim" for two years)• CPI-W: Wage and Clerical Workers -More than half of household income from hourly clerical or wage occupations and at least one household member employed 37 weeks of last 12 months -Excludes retirees, self-employed, unemployed, professional, managerial, and technical workers, etc.