An official website of the United States government
This page provides further information on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for the March 2021 Consumer Price Index news release.
Data collection for March 2021 involved no personal visits, so all data were collected either online or through telephone interviews. An example of this is full-service restaurants; even if a restaurant was open for dine-in service, as well as 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 | 2021 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Personal visit | Telephone | Online | Personal visit | Telephone | Online | Personal visit | Telephone | Online | |
January |
73 | 10 | 17 | 72 | 9 | 19 | 0 | 16 | 84 |
February |
72 | 11 | 17 | 72 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 16 | 84 |
March |
74 | 10 | 16 | 44 | 14 | 42 | 0 | 16 | 84 |
April |
74 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 18 | 82 | |||
May |
74 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 17 | 83 | |||
June |
73 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 83 | |||
July |
74 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 17 | 83 | |||
August |
73 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 83 | |||
September |
73 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 83 | |||
October |
73 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 16 | 84 | |||
November |
73 | 9 | 18 | 0 | 16 | 84 | |||
December |
72 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 16 | 84 | |||
Average, Feb 2019–Feb 2020 |
73 | 10 | 17 | ||||||
Month | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Personal visit | Telephone | Personal visit | Telephone | Personal visit | Telephone | |
January |
35 | 65 | 39 | 61 | 0 | 100 |
February |
36 | 64 | 40 | 60 | 0 | 100 |
March |
36 | 64 | 30 | 70 | 0 | 100 |
April |
38 | 62 | 0 | 100 | ||
May |
39 | 61 | 0 | 100 | ||
June |
38 | 62 | 0 | 100 | ||
July |
37 | 63 | 0 | 100 | ||
August |
37 | 63 | 0 | 100 | ||
September |
38 | 62 | 0 | 100 | ||
October |
39 | 61 | 0 | 100 | ||
November |
38 | 62 | 0 | 100 | ||
December |
39 | 61 | 0 | 100 | ||
Average, Feb 2019–Feb 2020 |
38 | 62 | ||||
For some CPI market basket categories, the percentage of the sample collected in March 2021 was notably lower than the average before the pandemic. These included food from vending machines and mobile vendors, leased cars and trucks, fuel oil, and admissions. There was a lower percentage of collected rents in March 2021 compared with March 2020.
Month | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Collected prices | Uncollected prices | Collected prices | Uncollected prices | Collected prices | Uncollected prices | |
January |
85 | 15 | 86 | 14 | 77 | 23 |
February |
85 | 15 | 87 | 13 | 79 | 21 |
March |
87 | 13 | 76 | 25 | 78 | 22 |
April |
86 | 14 | 65 | 35 | ||
May |
87 | 13 | 68 | 32 | ||
June |
86 | 14 | 70 | 30 | ||
July |
86 | 14 | 70 | 30 | ||
August |
86 | 14 | 72 | 28 | ||
September |
86 | 14 | 73 | 27 | ||
October |
86 | 14 | 74 | 26 | ||
November |
87 | 13 | 75 | 25 | ||
December |
86 | 14 | 77 | 23 | ||
Average, Feb 2019–Feb 2020 |
86 | 14 | ||||
Month | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Collected rents | Vacant units | Uncollected rents | Collected rents | Vacant units | Uncollected rents | Collected rents | Vacant units | Uncollected rents | |
January |
68 | 6 | 26 | 70 | 5 | 25 | 58 | 4 | 38 |
February |
67 | 5 | 28 | 69 | 6 | 25 | 61 | 4 | 35 |
March |
67 | 6 | 27 | 63 | 5 | 32 | 62 | 4 | 34 |
April |
68 | 6 | 26 | 61 | 4 | 35 | |||
May |
69 | 6 | 25 | 61 | 4 | 35 | |||
June |
68 | 6 | 26 | 62 | 4 | 34 | |||
July |
69 | 6 | 25 | 60 | 4 | 36 | |||
August |
67 | 6 | 27 | 62 | 4 | 34 | |||
September |
65 | 6 | 29 | 60 | 4 | 36 | |||
October |
69 | 5 | 26 | 59 | 4 | 37 | |||
November |
69 | 6 | 25 | 60 | 4 | 36 | |||
December |
67 | 6 | 27 | 62 | 4 | 34 | |||
Average, Feb 2019–Feb 2020 |
68 | 6 | 26 | ||||||
In March 2021, the CPI continued to impute the majority of uncollected prices from collected prices within the same item and geographic area (home cell). There were no instances where the data from the previous month were imputed to the current month (carry forward).
Month | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Home cell | Different cell | Carry forward | Home cell | Different cell | Carry forward | Home cell | Different cell | Carry forward | |
January |
93 | 7 | 0 | 92 | 8 | 0 | 89 | 11 | 0 |
February |
91 | 9 | 0 | 93 | 7 | 0 | 88 | 12 | 0 |
March |
94 | 6 | 0 | 90 | 10 | 0 | 88 | 12 | 0 |
April |
92 | 8 | 0 | 84 | 16 | 0 | |||
May |
92 | 8 | 0 | 85 | 15 | 0 | |||
June |
92 | 8 | 0 | 86 | 14 | 0 | |||
July |
92 | 8 | 0 | 86 | 14 | 0 | |||
August |
91 | 9 | 0 | 86 | 14 | 0 | |||
September |
93 | 7 | 0 | 87 | 13 | 0 | |||
October |
91 | 9 | 0 | 88 | 12 | 0 | |||
November |
93 | 7 | 0 | 89 | 11 | 0 | |||
December |
92 | 8 | 0 | 88 | 12 | 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 in 2019.
Month | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Noninterview | Vacancy | Noninterview | Vacancy | Noninterview | Vacancy | |
January |
81 | 19 | 82 | 18 | 91 | 9 |
February |
84 | 16 | 81 | 19 | 89 | 11 |
March |
82 | 18 | 87 | 13 | 89 | 11 |
April |
82 | 18 | 90 | 10 | ||
May |
82 | 18 | 91 | 9 | ||
June |
81 | 19 | 89 | 11 | ||
July |
81 | 19 | 89 | 11 | ||
August |
83 | 17 | 91 | 9 | ||
September |
83 | 17 | 90 | 10 | ||
October |
83 | 17 | 90 | 10 | ||
November |
82 | 18 | 90 | 10 | ||
December |
82 | 18 | 90 | 10 | ||
Table 7 lists the data series that were both inadequate for publication in March 2021 because of insufficient sample and that were adequate over the year before March 2020.
LABSTAT ID | Item | Area |
---|---|---|
CPI-U Series |
||
CUUR0000SETA03 |
Leased cars and trucks | U.S. city average |
CUUR0000SS16014 |
Peanut butter | U.S. city average |
CUURS35DSAGC |
Other goods | Tampa, FL |
CPI-W Series |
||
CWUR0000SETA03 |
Leased cars and trucks | U.S. city average |
CWUR0480SAEC |
Education and communication commodities | Mountain |
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 |
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 |
APU0100FJ1101 |
Milk, low-fat, reduced fat, skim, gallon container | Northeast urban |
APU0200702212 |
Bread, whole wheat, pan, per lb. (453.6 gm) | Midwest 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 |
APU0300701111 |
Flour, white, all purpose, per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
APU0300702212 |
Bread, whole wheat, pan, per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
APU0300702421 |
Cookies, chocolate chip, per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
APU0300705121 |
Bologna, all beef or mixed, 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 |
APU0300711415 |
Strawberries, dry pint, per 12 oz. (340.2 gm) | South urban |
APU0300711417 |
Grapes, Thompson Seedless, 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 |
APU0300720311 |
Wine, red and white table, all sizes, any origin, per 1 liter (33.8 oz) | South urban |
APU0300FL2101 |
Lettuce, romaine, per lb. (453.6 gm) | South urban |
APU0400702212 |
Bread, whole wheat, pan, 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 |
APU0400711412 |
Lemons, per lb. (453.6 gm) | West urban |
APU0400711415 |
Strawberries, dry pint, per 12 oz. (340.2 gm) | West urban |
APU0400714233 |
Beans, dried, any type, all sizes, per lb. (453.6 gm) | West urban |
APU0400FL2101 |
Lettuce, romaine, per lb. (453.6 gm) | West urban |
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.
Item | One month | Twelve month | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 2019 | Mar 2020 | Mar 2021 | Mar 2019 | Mar 2020 | Mar 2021 | |
All items |
0.04 | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.07 | 0.09 | 0.10 |
Food and beverages |
0.06 | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.12 | 0.14 | 0.23 |
Food |
0.07 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 0.12 | 0.16 | 0.22 |
Housing |
0.05 | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.11 | 0.13 | 0.10 |
Apparel |
0.52 | 0.41 | 0.48 | 0.68 | 0.85 | 0.77 |
Transportation |
0.09 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.15 | 0.23 | 0.31 |
Medical care |
0.25 | 0.07 | 0.10 | 0.39 | 0.54 | 0.28 |
Recreation |
0.16 | 0.14 | 0.13 | 0.46 | 0.32 | 0.34 |
Education and communication |
0.05 | 0.07 | 0.07 | 0.21 | 0.32 | 0.25 |
Other goods and services |
0.12 | 0.10 | 0.15 | 0.28 | 0.38 | 0.29 |
Energy |
0.16 | 0.18 | 0.17 | 0.39 | 0.29 | 0.36 |
All items less food and energy |
0.04 | 0.03 | 0.04 | 0.08 | 0.12 | 0.10 |
Last Modified Date: April 13, 2021