Uncle Sam Wants Your Shopping Diary for CPI Magic
Published Date: 1/23/2026
Notice
Summary
The Department of Labor is asking for approval to keep collecting info about what people spend and earn through their Consumer Expenditure Surveys. This helps update important stuff like the Consumer Price Index and supports researchers everywhere. If you want to share your thoughts, you’ve got until February 23, 2026, to speak up—no cost to participate, but your input helps keep things smooth and useful!
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Households May Be Surveyed for Spending
If you are selected, you could be one of the roughly 9,950 individuals or households asked to provide spending and income information for the Consumer Expenditure Surveys. The notice estimates 43,493 total responses, a total annual time burden of 34,609 hours, and total annual other costs of $0.
Survey Data Supports the CPI
The Department of Labor says the Consumer Expenditure Surveys collect spending and income data that are used to periodically update the national Consumer Price Index and are used by researchers in academia, government agencies, and the private sector. Maintaining this data collection supports the official inflation measure that the Bureau of Labor Statistics updates.
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