Glitch Causes Wrong Cpi Report

A software glitch caused the government to incorrectly measure inflation at the consumer level this year, possibly understating it a bit, government officials indicated Wednesday.

But private economists said that won’t change the rosy picture of the U.S. economy. And, it won’t deter the Federal Reserve - whose chief aim is to stave off inflation - from leaving interest rates unchanged at its meeting next week, the economists added.

The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday it will unveil revisions to its Consumer Price Index data for the period of January through August.

Government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated the revisions will show consumer prices crept up a little bit more than previously thought.

In addition to serving as the government’s chief gauge of inflation, the CPI is used to calculate cost-of-living adjustments in Social Security and other federal benefit payments, as well as in some private benefit plans. An upward revision could boost such payments made next year, economists said.