Producer Price Index Delayed Again

[Phaedrus]

Weird shit, I posted about this a couple of months ago when it first came out ...

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
PPI Delayed Indefinitely

BLS will release report no earlier than June 15, due to 'unexpected difficulties' in calculating.

(Reuters)

WASHINGTON - The release of the U.S. Producer Price Index has been delayed indefinitely due to renewed calculation problems with the report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Wednesday.

"BLS staff are working to resolve unexpected difficulties in calculating the index this month," the bureau said in a release.

A spokesman said the report, which measures inflation, would not be issued before June 15. He said a day's notice would be given before any release of the index, which had been delayed several times earlier this year due to calculation problems.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's extremely difficult to understand how it can be so hard to calculate an economic indicator that the BLS has been producing for a long time, or on the other hand what possible motivation there would be in deliberately delaying it.


Phaedrus

 

[Oceans11]

Could be political interference attempting to redefine some of the criteria.

I noticed in another thread that a Mcdonalds burger dude had been redefined as a something along the lines of a a manufacturing job in the job stats.

The Thatcher Gov was notorious for it in the 80's.

If the interference is REALLY serious, all the stats will be recalculated AFTER the next US election in a 'huge error found in stats' scenario.

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As mentioned in previous thread
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3796185.stm

[This message was edited by eek on June 11, 2004 at 07:47 AM.]