Consumer Price Index (CU) cu.txt Section Listing 1. Survey Definition 2. FTP files listed in the survey directory. 3. Time series, series file, data file, & mapping file definitions and relationships 4. Series file format and field definitions 5. Data file format and field definitions 6. Mapping file formats and field definitions 7. Data Element Dictionary ================================================================================ Section 1 ================================================================================ The following is a definition of: CONSUMER PRICE INDEX - All Urban Consumers (CU) Survey Description: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a statistical measure of change, over time, of the prices of goods and services in major expenditure groups--such as food, housing, apparel, transportation, and medical care--typically purchased by urban consumers. Essentially, it compares the cost of a sample "market basket" of goods and services in a specific month relative to the cost of the same "market basket" in an earlier reference period. This reference period is designated as the base period. The CPI publishes indexes for two populations; all urban consumers (CU) and urban wage earners and clerical workers (CW). To construct the two indexes, thousands of prices for commodities and services purchased by consumers are collected in a sample of 75 urban places. Rent data is collected in a separate sample of thousands of rental units. Comparison of indexes for individual CMSA's or cities show only the relative change over time in prices between locations. These indexes cannot be used to measure interarea differences in price levels or living costs. Summary Data Available: U.S. average indexes for both populations are available for several hundred consumer items and groups of items. In addition, many of the indexes have been adjusted for seasonality. The indexes are monthly. Different indexes go back to different years, with the earliest, including all items, dating to 1913. Semi-annual indexes have been calculated for many items for comparison with semi-annual areas mentioned below. Semi-annual indexes are available from 1984 forward. Area indexes for both populations are available for 23 urban places. For each area, indexes are published for a subset of items and groups. The indexes are published monthly for three areas and bimonthly for twenty areas. Regional and division level indexes for both populations are available for a subset of items and groups published. Indexes are published for four regions and nine divisions. Regional indexes date to 1966; divisional indexes are newer, dating to 2018. Indexes are monthly, with Semi-annual indexes also calculated for selected items. City-size class indexes for both populations are available for two size classes with a similar subset of groups and items. Region/city-size indexes (for example, Midwest size class B/C)for both populations are also available monthly. Frequency of Observations: U.S. city average indexes, regional indexes, division indexes, size class indexes, and three metro area indexes are monthly. 20 metro area indexes are bimonthly. Annual Averages: Annual averages are available for all unadjusted series in the CW and CU. Base Periods: Most indexes have a base period of 1982-1984 = 100. Other indexes, mainly newer indexes, are based more recently. The base period value is generally 100.0, with rare exceptions where the base is set to 1000 to avoid loss of precision. The index for the "Purchasing Power" values (AAOR and SAOR) have a base period value of 1.000. Data Characteristics: Indexes are published to three decimal places. Updating Schedule: Updates become available with the release of new data, typically between the 10th and 14th of the month following the reference month. ================================================================================== Section 2 ================================================================================== The following Consumer Price Index (All Urban Consumers) files are on the BLS internet in the sub-directory pub/time.series/cu: cu.data.0.Current - All current year-to-date cu.data.1.AllItems - All items (item_code AA0, SA0) cu.data.2.Summaries - Summaries (item_code SA0, SAF, SAH, SAA, SAT, SAM, SAR, SAE, SAG, SAS, SAC) cu.data.3.AsizeNorthEast - A-Size areas in Northeast (area_code A1 ...) cu.data.4.AsizeNorthCentral - A-size areas in North Central (area_code A2 ...) cu.data.5.AsizeSouth - A-Size areas in South (area_code A3 ...) cu.data.6.AsizeWest - A-Size areas in West (area_code A4 ...) cu.data.7.OtherNorthEast - All other Northeast (area_code 01, X1, D1) cu.data.8.OtherNorthCentral - All other North Central (area_code 02, X2, D2) cu.data.9.OtherSouth - All other in South (area_code 03, X3, D3) cu.data.10.OtherWest - All other in West (area_code 04, X4) cu.data.11.USFoodBeverage - All US Food and Beverage (area_code 0000, item_code SAF, SEF) cu.data.12.USHousing - All US Housing (area_code 0000, item_code SAH, SEH) cu.data.13.USApparel - All US Apparel (area_code 0000, item_code SAA, SEA) cu.data.14.USTransportation - All US Transportation (area_code 0000, item_code SAT, SET) cu.data.15.USMedical - All US Medical (area_code 0000, item_code SAM, SEM, SS57) cu.data.16.USRecreation - All US Recreation (area_code 0000, item_code SAR, SER, SS31, SS61, SS62) cu.data.17.USEducationAndCommunication - All US Education and Communication (area_code 0000, item_code SAE, SEE, SS27) cu.data.18.USOtherGoodsAndServices - All US Other Goods and Services (area_code 0000, item_code SAG, SEG; SS33) cu.data.19.PopulationSize - All Population-size (area_code A000, X000, D000) cu.data.20.USCommoditiesServicesSpecial - All US Commodity and Services and Special(area_code 0000, item_code SA0, SAC, SAN, SAS) cu.area - Area codes mapping file cu.contacts - Contacts for cu survey cu.footnote - Footnote codes mapping file cu.item - Item codes mapping file cu.MapErrors (TBR) - Map error codes mapping file cu.period - Period codes mapping file cu.series - All series and their beginning and end dates cu.txt - General information Note: TBR = File that will be removed. ================================================================================= Section 3 ================================================================================= The definition of a time series, its relationship to and the interrelationship among series, data and mapping files is detailed below: A time series refers to a set of data observed over an extended period of time over consistent time intervals (i.e. monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually). BLS time series data are typically produced at monthly intervals and represent data ranging from a specific consumer item in a specific geographical area whose price is gathered monthly to a category of worker in a specific industry whose employment rate is being recorded monthly, etc. The download.bls.gov files are organized such that data users are provided with the following set of files to use in their efforts to interpret data files: a) a series file (only one series file per survey) b) mapping files c) data files The series file contains a set of codes which, together, compose a series identification code that serves to uniquely identify a single time series. Additionally, the series file also contains the following series-level information: a) the period and year corresponding to the first data observation b) the period and year corresponding to the most recent data observation The mapping files are definition files that contain explanatory text descriptions that correspond to each of the various codes contained within each series identification code. The data file contains one line of data for each observation period pertaining to a specific time series. Each line contains a reference to the following: a) a series identification code b) year in which data is observed c) period for which data is observed (M13, Q05, and S03 indicate annual averages) d) value e) footnote code (if available) ================================================================================= Section 4 ================================================================================= File Structure and Format: The following represents the file format used to define cu.series. Note that the Field Numbers are for reference only; they do not exist in the database. Data files are in ASCII text format. Data elements are separated by spaces; the first record of each file contains the column headers for the data elements stored in each field. Each record ends with a new line character. Field #/Data Element Length Value(Example) 1. series_id 17 CUSR0000SA0 2. area_code 4 0400 3. item_code 8 SA0E 4. seasonal 1 S or U 5. periodicity_code 1 R 6. base_code 1 S 7. base_period 20 1982-84=100 8. begin_year 4 1947 9. begin_period 3 M01 10. end_year 4 2002 11. end_period 3 M02 The series_id (CUSR0000SA0) can be broken out into: Code Value survey abbreviation = CU seasonal(code) = S periodicity_code = R area_code = 0000 item_code = SA0 ================================================================================== Section 5 ================================================================================== File Structure and Format: The following represents the file format used to define each data file. Note that the field numbers are for reference only; they do not exist in the database. Data files are in ASCII text format. Data elements are separated by spaces; the first record of each file contains the column headers for the data elements stored in each field. Each record ends with a new line character. The cu.data file is partitioned into a number of separate files: See Section 2 All of the above-referenced data files have the following format: Field #/Data Element Length Value(Example) 1. series_id 17 CUUR0400AA0 2. year 4 1966 3. period 3 M12 4. value 12 53.3 5. footnote_codes 10 It varies The series_id (CUUR0400AA0) can be broken out into: Code Value survey abbreviation = CU seasonal(code) = U periodicity_code = R area_code = 0400 item_code = AA0 ================================================================================ Section 6 ================================================================================ File Structure and Format: The following represents the file format used to define each mapping file. Note that the field numbers are for reference only; they do not exist in the database. Mapping files are in ASCII text format. Data elements are separated by tabs; the first record of each file contains the column headers for the data elements stored in each field. Each record ends with a new line character. File Name: cu.area Field #/Data Element Length Value(Example) 1. area_code 4 0100 2. area_name 80 Text File Name: cu.footnote Field #/Data Element Length Value(Example) 1. footnote_code 1 R 2. footnote_text 100 Text File Name: cu.item Field #/Data Element Length Value(Example) 1. item_code 8 AA0 2. item_name 100 Text File Name: cu.period Field #/Data Element Length Value(Example) 1. period 3 M02 2. period_abbr 5 FEB 3. period_name 20 Text (e.g. February) ========================================================================================= Section 7 ========================================================================================= CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (CU) DATABASE ELEMENTS Data Element Length Value(Example) Description area_code 4 N or S, ,000-999 Unique code used to identify Ex: A100 a specific geographic area. area_name 80 Text Name of specific geographic Ex: MIAMI, FLA area. base_code 1 S=Standard reference Code identifying the type of base base period used in index. A=Alternate reference base base_period 20 Identifies the base The actual base period used period in calculating the index. Ex: 1982-84=100 begin_period 3 M01-M13 or S01-S03 Identifies first data observation Ex: MO6=June within the first year for which (M=Monthly, M13=Annual data is available for a given Avg, S=Semi-Annually) time series. begin_year 4 YYYY Identifies first year for which Ex: 1975 data is available for a given time series. end_period 3 M01-M13 or S01-S03 Identifies last data observation Ex: M06=June within the last year for which (M=Monthly, M13=Annual data is available for a given Avg, S=Semi-Annually) time series. end_year 4 YYYY Identifies last year for which Ex: 1980 data is available for a given time series. footnote_code 1 R Identifies footnote for the data series. footnote_text 100 Text Contains the text of the footnote. item_code 8 SA0E Identifies item for which data observations pertain. item_name 100 Text Full names of items. period_abbr 5 Text Abbreviation of period name. Ex: JUN period 3 M01-M13 or S01-S03 Identifies period for which Ex: M06=June data is observed. (M=Monthly, M13=Annual Avg, S=Semi-Annually) period_name 20 Text Full name of period to which Ex: June the data observation refers. periodicity_ 1 S=Semi-Annual Frequency of data code R=Regular observation. seasonal 1 S=Seasonally Code identifying whether the Adjusted data are seasonally adjusted. U=Unadjusted series_id 17 CUSR0000SA0 Code identifying the specific series. value 12 53.3 Price index for item. year 4 YYYY Identifies year of observation. Ex: 1990