PRICES & SPENDING • Aug 2012 • Volume 1 / Number 12
Consumer Price Index data quality: how accurate is the U.S. CPI?
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is an estimate of the average change in prices over time paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services in the United States. The CPI is used extensively in many different ways: to adjust historical data, to escalate federal payments and tax brackets, and to adjust rents and wages. It directly affects the lives of Americans, so it must be as accurate as possible. But how accurate is it?
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How parents use time and money
The time pressures faced by working wives have led economists to predict that market goods and services would be substituted for those produced at home. Earlier research using Consumer Expenditure data found that a wife’s employment status (full time, part time, or not employed) had some influence on her family’s purchases of market goods and services, but other factors, such as family income and the wife’s education, were more influential.
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Atlanta’s thriving air transportation industry: employment and wages, 1990–2010
Fulton County’s employment concentration for air transportation is higher than any other industry, and pays higher wages than the Fulton County average for all private industry. A major reason for the prominence of air transportation within Fulton County is that it houses the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International.
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Facts of the catch: occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities to fishing workers, 2003–2009
Fishers and related fishing workers deal with a set of working conditions unique among all other occupations. This occupation is characterized by strenuous work, long hours, seasonal employment, and some of the most hazardous conditions in the workforce. These workers are often at sea for weeks or months at a time, sometimes having to stand on deck, fishing for long periods with little or no sleep. They are constantly being tossed around by wind and rough seas, with water in their face and under their feet, which adds an element of balance to the skills needed to do their job safely.
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