I was prompted recently, by the uproar of the inflation data and CPI "hiding" information. I think the information is there, but a lot of folks don't bother to read past the headline.
An example would be the food component.
To understand my recent research, understand an article was written by a mainstream media source that stated... the typical American family must spend $11,400 more now on the basics, compared to January of 2021. They cited the BLS data.
So the January 2021 BLS report, had the print at 261.582. The October 2023 BLS report, rolled in at 307.671. Overall, it shows inflation rose 17.619%, during that period.
If that family is spending $11.4K more, then they were spending at an annual rate of $64,700, in January 2021, compared to a current rate of $76,100. A difference of $11.4K or 17.619%.
This is the basic CPI print for food total, food at home, and food away from home...
Now that those conditions are understood... onto the weightings.
This is what happens, when the weightings are thrown into the mix...
Note that food overall is much less at 11.4%, than the first chart's 20.2%. However, food at home jumps to 29.4% from the former chart's 20.9%. Oddly, the actual food away from home spending has fallen -10.7% since January 2021.
We are spending much more on food at home, than the BLS numbers indicate. It is due to fluctuations in weightings. These fluctuations are found in almost, if not all... categories.
