Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Table of Contents

  1. What is the Bureau of Labor Statistics?
  2. How do I read or interpret an index?
  3. What is the Consumer Price Index?
  4. How is the Consumer Price Index used?
  5. Is the Consumer Price Index a cost-of-living index?
  6. What goods and services does the Consumer Price Index cover?
  7. Which index is the "Official Consumer Price Index (CPI)" reported in the media?
  8. Can the Consumer Price Index for individual areas be used to compare living costs among the areas?
  9. Is the Consumer Price Index the best measure of inflation?
  10. How do I use the Consumer Price Index for escalating contracts?
  11. Do you have breakdowns of the Employer Costs for Employee Compensation by state?
  12. Does the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages /ES-202 program provide information on the number of employees in particular companies?
  13. What is a benchmark of payroll survey estimates from the Current Employment Statistics survey?
  14. What types of hours and earnings data are available from the Current Employment Statistics survey?
  15. What are the causes of benchmark revisions of payroll survey estimates?
  16. How do strikes affect Current Employment Statistics estimates?
  17. Can I get a list of the companies in the samples of the Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys?
  18. What is the Producer Price Index?
  19. How are Producer Price Indexes used?
  20. How does the Producer Price Index differ from the Consumer Price Index?
  21. How are labor hours calculated for productivity measures?
  22. What are some uses of Export and Import Price Indexes?
  23. Does the Bureau of Labor Statistics have employment projections for specific occupations?
  24. How are "wages" defined by the Occupational Employment Statistics survey?
  25. What types of benefit data are published by the Employee Benefits Survey?
  26. What are the fastest growing occupations?
  27. How are the labor force components (i.e., civilian noninstitutional population, civilian labor force, employed, unemployed, and unemployment rate) defined?
  28. What are "household" and "establishment" data, and how do they differ?
  29. What is seasonal adjustment?