sightINFLATION DATA•May 1
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Two missing months of spending data force BLS to decide how CPI weights get built
A two‑month hole in the data that sets CPI weights just turned into a live methodology problem. The Consumer Expenditure Survey feeds how much categories like food and housing count in inflation, and October-November 2025 are missing after the shutdown. Now BLS is weighing fixes and pulling in outside panels (NABE, CNSTAT) to decide how to fill the gap, effectively choosing how a core inflation benchmark gets constructed.
Timeline2
May 1
BLS background paper on handling missing Consumer Expenditure Survey data is flagged publicly.
May 1
Discussion of the release continues as the methodology issue spreads across economic-data watchers.
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May 1