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Impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on Consumer Price Index data for June 2020
Note: In table 7, the list of data series shown as inadequate for publication has been corrected.
This page provides further information on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for the June 2020 Consumer Price Index news release.
Collection mode
Data collection for June 2020 involved no personal visits, so all data were collected either online or through telephone interviews. An example of this is full-service restaurants; if a restaurant was closed for dine-in service, but open for take-out or delivery, the data collector attempted to obtain the price from the restaurant’s website or by telephone call with the respondent, rather than a personal visit.
| Month | 2019 | 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal visit | Telephone | Online | Personal visit | Telephone | Online | |
| March | 74 | 10 | 16 | 44 | 14 | 42 |
| April | 74 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 18 | 82 |
| May | 74 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 17 | 83 |
| June | 73 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 83 |
| Average Feb 2019–Feb 2020 | 73 | 10 | 17 | |||
| Month | 2019 | 2020 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal visit | Telephone | Personal visit | Telephone | |
| March | 36 | 64 | 30 | 70 |
| April | 38 | 62 | 0 | 100 |
| May | 39 | 61 | 0 | 100 |
| June | 38 | 62 | 0 | 100 |
| Average Feb 2019–Feb 2020 | 38 | 62 | ||
Response rates
For some CPI market basket categories, the percentage of the sample collected in June 2020 was notably lower than average. These included leased cars and trucks, food at employee sites and schools, fees for lessons or instructions, and household paper products.
There was a lower percentage of collected rents in June 2020 compared with June 2019.
| Month | 2019 | 2020 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collected prices | Uncollected prices | Collected prices | Uncollected prices | |
| March | 87 | 13 | 75 | 25 |
| April | 86 | 14 | 65 | 35 |
| May | 87 | 13 | 68 | 32 |
| June | 86 | 14 | 70 | 30 |
| Average Feb 2019–Feb 2020 | 86 | 14 | ||
| Month | 2019 | 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collected rents | Vacant units | Uncollected rents | Collected rents | Vacant units | Uncollected rents | |
| March | 67 | 6 | 27 | 63 | 5 | 32 |
| April | 68 | 6 | 26 | 61 | 4 | 35 |
| May | 69 | 6 | 25 | 61 | 4 | 35 |
| June | 68 | 6 | 26 | 62 | 4 | 34 |
| Average Feb 2019–Feb 2020 | 68 | 6 | 26 | |||
Imputation
In June 2020, the CPI continued to impute the majority of uncollected prices from collected prices within the same item and geographic area (home cell). However, the number of prices imputed from a different item area cell (different cell) increased from the same time in 2019. There were no instances where the data from the previous month was imputed to the current month (carry forward).
| Month | 2019 | 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home cell | Different cell | Carry forward | Home cell | Different cell | Carry forward | |
| March | 94 | 6 | 0 | 90 | 10 | 0 |
| April | 92 | 8 | 0 | 84 | 16 | 0 |
| May | 92 | 8 | 0 | 85 | 15 | 0 |
| June | 92 | 8 | 0 | 86 | 14 | 0 |
Nonvacant units with respondents previously reporting, but not currently reporting, receive noninterview imputation for use in the CPI. Vacant units that were previously occupied by renters are also imputed for use in estimation by separate methods. Table 6 below shows a reduction in vacancy imputation performed in the current month relative to the same time last year.
| Month | 2019 | 2020 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noninterview | Vacancy | Noninterview | Vacancy | |
| March | 82 | 18 | 87 | 13 |
| April | 82 | 18 | 90 | 10 |
| May | 82 | 18 | 91 | 9 |
| June | 81 | 19 | 89 | 11 |
Cell, series, index, or observation suppression
Table 7 lists the data series that were both inadequate for publication in June 2020 because of insufficient sample and that were adequate over the year before March 2020.
| LABSTAT ID | Item | Area |
|---|---|---|
| CPI-U Series | ||
| CUUR0000SEMD03 | Care of invalids and elderly at home | U.S. city average |
| CUUR0000SETA03 | Leased cars and trucks | U.S. city average |
| CUUR0000SS53021 | Intercity bus fare | U.S. city average |
| CUUR0000SS62052 | Film processing | U.S. city average |
| CUURS23BSAD | Durables | Detroit, MI |
| CUURS23BSATCLTB | Transportation commodities less motor fuel | Detroit, MI |
| CUURS23BSETA | New and used motor vehicles | Detroit, MI |
| CUURS23BSETA01 | New vehicles | Detroit, MI |
| CUURS35BSAF116 | Alcoholic beverages | Miami, FL |
| CUURS48ASAGS | Other personal services | Phoenix, AZ |
| CUURS48ASAM | Medical care | Phoenix, AZ |
| CUURS48ASATCLTB | Transportation commodities less motor fuel | Phoenix, AZ |
| CUURS48ASETA | New and used motor vehicles | Phoenix, AZ |
| CUURS48ASETA01 | New vehicles | Phoenix, AZ |
| CUURS49BSAGS | Other personal services | San Francisco, CA |
| CPI-W Series | ||
| CWUR0000SETA03 | Leased cars and trucks | U.S. city average |
| CWURS23BSAGC | Other goods | Detroit, MI |
| CWURS23BSATCLTB | Transportation commodities less motor fuel | Detroit, MI |
| CWURS23BSETA | New and used motor vehicles | Detroit, MI |
| CWURS23BSETA01 | New vehicles | Detroit, MI |
| CWURS48ASAGS | Other personal services | Phoenix, AZ |
| CWURS48ASAM | Medical care | Phoenix, AZ |
| CWURS48ASETA01 | New vehicles | Phoenix, AZ |
| CWURS49BSAGS | Other personal services | San Francisco, CA |
| CWURS49DSAGS | Other personal services | Seattle, WA |
| C-CPI-U Series | ||
| No series were inadequate for publication. | ||
| AP Series | ||
| APU0000706311 | Turkey, frozen, whole, per lb. (453.6 gm) | U.S. city average |
| APU0000711411 | Grapefruit, per lb. (453.6 gm) | U.S. city average |
| APU0000711412 | Lemons, per lb. (453.6 gm) | U.S. city average |
| APU0000712211 | Lettuce, iceberg, per lb. (453.6 gm) | U.S. city average |
| APU0000712406 | Peppers, sweet, per lb. (453.6 gm) | U.S. city average |
| APU0000712412 | Broccoli, per lb. (453.6 gm) | U.S. city average |
| APU0000FD2101 | All Ham (Excluding Canned Ham and Luncheon Slices), per lb. (453.6 gm) | U.S. city average |
| APU0000FL2101 | Lettuce, romaine, per lb. (453.6 gm) | U.S. city average |
| APU0100711211 | Bananas, per lb. (453.6 gm) | Northeast urban |
| APU0100711311 | Oranges, Navel, per lb. (453.6 gm) | Northeast urban |
| APU0100711411 | Grapefruit, per lb. (453.6 gm) | Northeast urban |
| APU0100711412 | Lemons, per lb. (453.6 gm) | Northeast urban |
| APU0100711415 | Strawberries, dry pint, per 12 oz. (340.2 gm) | Northeast urban |
| APU0100FC4101 | All Uncooked Other Beef (Excluding Veal), per lb. (453.6 gm) | Northeast urban |
| APU0100FD2101 | All Ham (Excluding Canned Ham and Luncheon Slices), per lb. (453.6 gm) | Northeast urban |
| APU0100FD4101 | All Other Pork (Excluding Canned Ham and Luncheon Slices), per lb. (453.6 gm) | Northeast urban |
| APU0100FJ1101 | Milk, low-fat, reduced fat, skim, gallon container | Northeast urban |
| APU0200709112 | Milk, fresh, whole, fortified, per gal. (3.8 lit) | Midwest urban |
| APU0200711411 | Grapefruit, per lb. (453.6 gm) | Midwest urban |
| APU0200711412 | Lemons, per lb. (453.6 gm) | Midwest urban |
| APU0300704312 | Ham, boneless, excluding canned, per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
| APU0300711311 | Oranges, Navel, per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
| APU0300711411 | Grapefruit, per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
| APU0300711412 | Lemons, per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
| APU0300711417 | Grapes, Thompson Seedless, per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
| APU0300712112 | Potatoes, white, per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
| APU0300712211 | Lettuce, iceberg, per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
| APU0300716116 | Margarine, soft, tubs, per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
| APU0300FD2101 | All Ham (Excluding Canned Ham and Luncheon Slices), per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
| APU0300FL2101 | Lettuce, romaine, per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
| APU0400702212 | Bread, whole wheat, pan, per lb. (453.6 gm) | West urban |
| APU0400704312 | Ham, boneless, excluding canned, per lb. (453.6 gm) | West urban |
| APU0400705111 | Frankfurters, all meat or all beef, per lb. (453.6 gm) | West urban |
| APU0400711411 | Grapefruit, per lb. (453.6 gm) | West urban |
| APU0400714233 | Beans, dried, any type, all sizes, per lb. (453.6 gm) | West urban |
| APU0400FD2101 | All Ham (Excluding Canned Ham and Luncheon Slices), per lb. (453.6 gm) | West urban |
| APU0400FL2101 | Lettuce, romaine, per lb. (453.6 gm) | West urban |
Measures of error
The standard error of the CPI’s change can be used to construct confidence intervals to determine whether the change for a particular CPI series is significantly different from zero. Table 8 shows the 1- and 12-month standard error for selected indexes at the U.S. level.
| Expenditure category | One month | Twelve month | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2019 | June 2020 | June 2019 | June 2020 | |
| All items | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.07 | 0.10 |
| Food and beverages | 0.06 | 0.11 | 0.13 | 0.21 |
| Food | 0.06 | 0.12 | 0.14 | 0.21 |
| Housing | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0.15 | 0.15 |
| Apparel | 0.53 | 0.27 | 0.94 | 0.77 |
| Transportation | 0.07 | 0.15 | 0.16 | 0.18 |
| Medical care | 0.09 | 0.08 | 0.41 | 0.52 |
| Recreation | 0.14 | 0.24 | 0.50 | 0.49 |
| Education and communication | 0.07 | 0.11 | 0.23 | 0.25 |
| Other goods and services | 0.12 | 0.13 | 0.30 | 0.35 |
| Energy | 0.17 | 0.30 | 0.22 | 0.20 |
| All items less food and energy | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.09 | 0.12 |
Last Modified Date: December 3, 2020