PPI is delayed because computers are old ?!?!?

[seasat]

Yahoo Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outdated computers are partly to blame for the delayed release of the U.S. producer price index and only "God knows when" the data will be ready, a top analyst at the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Monday.


The U.S. Labor Department (news - web sites) statistical agency has indefinitely delayed the release of the January and February PPI (news - web sites) reports due to problems converting the data to a new industry classification system.


The January PPI, which measures prices paid to farms, factories and refineries, was originally scheduled for release on Feb. 19. The February report was due to be released this coming Friday



Okay, now the BLS has computers that can handle 400,000 different businesses in the employment survey. They handle 60,000 different interviews. Yet they can't do the reclassification routine for industries? Surely, they could go out and new servers to do this number crunching. I'm not a very skilled programer but it doesn't appear that complex to me. Anybody have any ideas? The only thing else that might be involved is they are trying to hold off data that may indicate higher inflation.:tinfoilhat:

[tom_paine]

1. Yes, the Busheviks and their Media lie like Soviets

Trust them identically as you would trust the Soviet Department of Agriculture.

They lie. You are 100% corrrect to be skeptical and, yes, the Busheviks are going to "take these statistics into the shop and overhaul them"...Soviet Style.

[aquart]

2. Chicken thighs are up 50 cents a pound.

Hellmann's mayonnaise on sale is 50 cents a pound higher.

Yeah, my guess is they don't want to discuss inflation.

[twilight]

12. Costco

I was at Costco yesterday - hadn't been there in several months.

I was stunned to see the prices on some of the items I used to buy like eggs - now over $2.00 for 18 of them and they used to be less than $1.50.

Butter - 4 lbs. were close to $10.00; used to be you'd get 3 lbs. for ~$5.00.

Prices on everything have skyrocketed!

Anyone that says there is no inflation is crazy!

:dem:

[displacedtexan]

3. And how are things on planet Oh, Right! Sure?

You can crank out that report on a fairly modest computer. It doesn't require a mainframe.

Statisticians are LOL at this.

[dweller]

4. Factoring in all the NEW MANUFACTURING JOBS

burger-builders, etc.

Do you want freedom fries with that?

dp

[kalian]

5. Too funny....

I guess the new software that the created that automatically
revises DOWN the inflation figures isn't working quite right...

:eyes:

These people will stop at nothing to keep the lid on this pandora's
box...

[CaptainClark23]

6. This is getting really fcking surreal...

At least I'm not alone in falling down this rabbit hole. You people seem to be seeing the same things I am...

7. You saw this, right???

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x6818

8. Maybe the PPI program was hacked?

Did anyone notice the PPI stopped right after I reported the "PPI hacking" in early January?

See my website for that story, where I found apparent "hacking" and reported it in a story.

Maybe they found more problems with the PPI program, and the 'old computer' story is BS????

Maybe there was a "hacker"??? Or maybe just a coincidence?

Here's why I think that: I did check the tables and the 2003 change was the first year where the data was hacked in that category.

[rapier]

9. notes

Yes, it's true. The DOL was using a 1994 Packard Bell 386 and it's having problems. Not to worry however. The Snowman is all over the tube saying how inflation is non existent. Would he lie to you?

[linazelle]

10. It cost $25 to fill up my gas tank last week, it used to cost $18 a

few years ago. I listen to a CON radio network on Sundays to hear their financial analyst, Bob Brinker. For years he's been adamant that the inflation rates are low. However, I see it much differently. At the grocery store, especially, as was mentioned already, I see people eyeing steaks longingly and putting them back on the shelves. They are a luxury when people have to feed families. I see fewer people in the grocery stores. Not long ago, in my large metropolitan city, you'd go the grocery store late at night or after work and the lines would be frustratingly long. Now I see most registers are closed. I went to Sam's Club last week, another place where the lines are usually long on the weekends, they were not long at all. Plus, the store closings in my local mall are scary. Three closings since Christmas and the mall is more like a ghost town. Last night my mother, a child of the depression, said I'd better get a large freezer and stock up because she senses that we are headed for very hard times.

[orwell]

11. PPI Moonshot

Maybe this is why:

http://www.martincapital.com/chart-pgs/CH_infl.HTM

Take a look at the most recent time series on PPI (the thick blue line on the chart.) It has risen from -3% to +4% on an annualized basis in about two years. There are some distortions here due to the dollar's collapse. For example, commodity prices have risen significantly less when quoted in Euros or Yen.

Be that as it may, this bears watching. We seem to be in a no man's land, floating between inflationary and deflationary forces. If the Fed had their way, we would mildly inflate here. They are terrified of a deflationary scenario which could lead to more serious systemic problems in the credit sector.

May you live in interesting times.

O