The Bureau of Labor Statistics is considering changing the way the core consumer price index (CPI) rate is calculated according to a Wall Street Journal report. They wouldn’t change the formula, just the precision to which inflation is measured.
For example, a if the index for one month is 198.945, and it moves up to 199.355, the actual change is 0.206 percent, which rounds down to 0.2 percent. But when the BLS rounds the initial month’s index down to 198.9, and the index for the next month up to 199.4, that produces a 0.3 percent rise.
This is a good example of one way numbers can be manipulated — intentionally or not — to come up with different values to suit the presenter’s agenda.
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