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US Department of Labor

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Beginning in May 2012, Focus on Prices and Spending has been consolidated with several other BLS publications into a new series of reports called Beyond the Numbers. Beyond the Numbers illuminates interesting, timely BLS data on discrete topics and is oriented towards a general audience.

Focus on Prices and Spending

Focus on Prices and Spending is a series of BLS reports that include data from the Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Price Index (PPI), International Price (IPP), and Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) programs. These quarterly reports highlight recent trends in inflation and spending in the U.S. economy. They supplement the regular monthly (or annual in the case of the Consumer Expenditure Survey) press releases produced by each program, and focus on special topics and longer term trends in the economy, providing users a more in depth analysis of price or spending information. They are posted on the BLS website and usually appear 6 weeks after the end of each quarter.

Fourth Quarter 2011

Consumer Expenditure Survey: How do U.S. expenditures compare with those of other countries?
Consumer Price Indexes: The Experimental Consumer Price Index for Older Americans (CPI-E) (PDF)
Producer Price Indexes: The 2012 PPI Weight Update: How and why does BLS update revenue weights? (PDF)
Import and Export Prices: A Rollercoaster Year for Export Agriculture Prices (PDF)

Third Quarter 2011

Consumer Expenditure Survey: Consumer Spending in 2010 (PDF)
Consumer Price Indexes: A Comparison of the CPI-U and the C-CPI-U (PDF)
Producer Price Indexes: Technology in Commodity Markets (PDF)
Import and Export Prices: The Impact of the Earthquake in Japan on U.S. Imports (PDF)

Second Quarter 2011

Consumer Expenditure Survey: Part D Prescription Drug Coverage and Health Care Spending by Seniors on Medicare (PDF)
Consumer Price Indexes: Measuring U.S. Inflation Using European Methods (PDF)
Producer Price Indexes: The Impact of Fuel Surcharges on the PPI (PDF)
Import and Export Prices: The Impact of Soaring Cotton Prices on Consumer Apparel Prices (PDF)

First Quarter 2011

Consumer Expenditure Survey: Do two live as cheaply as one? Evidence from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (PDF)
Consumer Price Index: Differences between the Consumer Price Index and the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PDF)
Producer Price Indexes: Grain Prices and Our Grocery Bill (PDF)
Import and Export Prices: U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes and the Terms of Trade (PDF)

Fourth Quarter 2010

Consumer Expenditure Survey: How Consumers Used the 2009 Economic Recovery Payments of $250 (PDF)
Consumer Price Index: The So-called "Core" Index: History and Uses of the Index for All Items Less Food and Energy (PDF)
Producer Price Indexes: Producer Price Index Introduces Experimental Aggregation System (PDF)
Import and Export Prices: U.S. Export Prices Up as World Grain Stockpiles Decline (PDF)

Third Quarter 2010

Consumer Expenditure Survey: Household Energy Spending: Two Surveys Compared (PDF)
Import and Export Prices: The Impact of the European Debt Crisis on U.S. Import Prices (PDF)
Consumer Price Index: The Use of the CPI in Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) (PDF)
Producer Price Indexes: What Does the Producer Price Index Measure? (PDF)

Second Quarter 2010

Consumer Expenditure Survey: Health Care Spending: 1998, 2003, and 2008 (PDF)
Producer Price Indexes: PPI Industry or Commodity Data: Which Better Suits Your Needs? (PDF)
Consumer Price Index: The Use of the CPI in Adjusting Federal Income Tax Brackets and other Federal Tax Parameters (PDF)
Import and Export Prices: China's Exchange Rate Policy Reflected in U.S. Import Prices; Quarterly Price Highlights (PDF)

First Quarter 2010

Consumer Expenditure Survey: More than 75 percent of American households own computers (PDF)
Consumer Price Index: The Use of CPI in Poverty Measurement; Recent Modest Inflation Caused Primarily by Higher Gasoline Prices (PDF)
Producer Price Indexes: Intermediate Materials Continue their Advance; Other Producer Price Highlights (PDF)
Import and Export Prices: The Price Competitiveness of U.S. Exports; Quarterly Price Highlights (PDF)