Where Shrinkflation Is Retail Camouflage

Concerned that inflation might reduce sales, the remedy is shrinkflation through which food makers reduce package size.

What We Can Learn From Used Car Prices

Some economists are asking if the increase in used car prices is an indicator of the path that future inflation will take.

A Quick and Easy Look at Real Unemployment Numbers

While the headlines tell us the monthly unemployment rate, we can look at other numbers in the report to get the whole story.

The Data Leaks That Move Markets

In financial markets, data security relates to the timing of data releases because premature releases or leaks unfairly favor one group of investors.

The Reason Jobs Numbers Don’t Have to be Real

Hearing the unemployment rate and jobs creation numbers, we should know the numbers weren’t real because the BLS seasonally adjusted them.

How Much Would Santa Earn If We Paid Him?

If they tried to include the work that moms and dads do at home, national income accounting statisticians would have a tough time quantifying unpaid work.

One Reason to Quit A Job

Have you ever gone through a series of phone messages that finally take you to the department you need? Then, after 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15, no one picks up and you start to wonder if you should hang up. Deciding what…

How Wrong Are BLS Jobs Numbers?

China and Nepal used to disagree about the height of Mount Everest. Nepal counted the snow caps while China just included the rock height. Consequently, Nepal said the peak was 4 meters higher than China. Then, in 2010, China said okay, the…

Inflation: What A Billion Prices Tell Us

Every year, my class meets Harriet Shaw through a PBS NewsHour broadcast from 1991. An economic assistant for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), she is a professional shopper who tracks prices. In the newscast, we follow her up and down store aisles until…