Consumer Price Index

The Vermont Department of Labor says the minimum wage paid in the state is going to go up to $8.46. Currently, the state's minimum wage is $8.15. The change will take effect Jan. 1. Vermont's minimum wage is pegged to the consumer price index. Employees who regularly receive tips, such as waiters, will see their minimum wage increase to $4.10 from $3.95. If the tipped employees total wages — tips and pay — do not equal at least $8.46, the employer must pay the difference.

 Monday | 16  Tuesday | 17  Wednesday | 18  Thursday | 19  Friday | 20   Economic reports Holiday  Producer Price Index for December; industrial production and capacity utilization data for December  Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reports December employment data for Massachusetts; weekly US jobless claims; Consumer Price Index for December; housing starts for December  Existing-home sales data for December  ...

 Monday | 16  Tuesday | 17  Wednesday | 18  Thursday | 19  Friday | 20   Economic reports Holiday  Producer Price Index for December; industrial production and capacity utilization data for December  Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reports December employment data for Massachusetts; weekly US jobless claims; Consumer Price Index for December; housing starts for December  Existing-home sales data for December  ...

The Vermont Department of Labor says the minimum wage paid in the state is going to go up to $8.46. Currently, the state's minimum wage is $8.15. The change will take effect Jan. 1. Vermont's minimum wage is pegged to the consumer price index. Employees who regularly receive tips, such as waiters, will see their minimum wage increase to $4.10 from $3.95. If the tipped employees total wages — tips and pay — do not equal at least $8.46, the employer must pay the difference.

YOUR OCT. 28 front-page story "Seniors to fight attempt to change Social Security" suggests that the proposed "chained consumer price index" adjustment is more accurate, and some imply that it shouldn't be perceived as a cut in seniors' benefits. The "chaining" introduces substitute, newer items in the index when it is updated, which is fair for younger people, reflecting, for instance, the latest, generally less-expensive consumer electronics, but unfair for seniors who buy primarily basic items, such as food, that do not change in nature over time.

WASHINGTON — For all the attention given to almost $4-a-gallon gas, the biggest threat to containing inflation may be the shift away from homeownership, which is pushing up the cost of leases across the nation’s 38 million rented residences. Excluding food and energy, shelter represents about 40 percent of the consumer price index, and accounted for almost one-quarter of the 1.3-percentage-point rise in April. That share has grown as falling home prices shake Americans’ confidence in housing as an investment.

WASHINGTON -- A surge in the cost of gasoline and other energy products pushed consumer prices up by 3.3 percent in 2004, the biggest jump in four years, but relief may be on the way. Consumer prices actually dipped in December as energy costs moderated. The Labor Department reported yesterday that its closely watched Consumer Price Index edged down 0.1 percent last month, reflecting the biggest drop in energy prices since July. Price pressures last year were dominated by a 16.6 percent surge in fuel bills, the biggest jump in 14 years, as gasoline prices jumped by 26.1 percent, natural gas...

BEIJING -- China's sizzling economy surged 11.1 percent in the first quarter, prompting the Cabinet to declare yesterday that it will take steps to keep it from overheating. The pledge by the State Council came after the government said inflation rose to its highest level in more than two years. "If this type of fast growth continues, there is the possibility of shifting from fast growth to overheating. There is that risk," Li Xiaochao, spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, told a news conference.

WASHINGTON - Home builders started projects in September at the fastest pace in 17 months, a hopeful sign for the economy. Most of the gain was driven by a surge in volatile apartment construction. That could help create jobs and boost economic growth, but it doesn't signal a comeback for the depressed housing market. Single-family home construction, which represents nearly 70 percent of homes built, rose only slightly. And building permits fell to a five-month low. Overall, builders began work in September on a seasonally adjusted 658,000 homes, the Commerce Department...

WASHINGTON -- Inflation in 2006 eased to the slowest pace in three years as consumers finally got some relief on energy and medical bills. In further good news, inflation-adjusted wages rose at the fastest clip in nearly a decade. The Labor Department reported yesterday that the Consumer Price Index climbed by 2.5 percent last year, the best showing since 2003 and nearly a full percentage point lower than the 3.4 percent jump in 2005. The encouraging news stemmed from a sizable slowdown in energy costs in the second half of last year, after 2 1/2 years when the price of...

YOUR OCT. 28 front-page story "Seniors to fight attempt to change Social Security" suggests that the proposed "chained consumer price index" adjustment is more accurate, and some imply that it shouldn't be perceived as a cut in seniors' benefits. The "chaining" introduces substitute, newer items in the index when it is updated, which is fair for younger people, reflecting, for instance, the latest, generally less-expensive consumer electronics, but unfair for seniors who buy primarily basic items, such as food, that do not change in nature over time.

RE "SENIORS to fight attempt to change Social Security" by Michael Levenson and Alex Katz (Page A1, Oct. 28): You describe the Concord Coalition as a "nonpartisan think tank. " The coalition has a long history of trying to take Social Security benefits away from retirees. Their members claim that their version of the consumer price index is a more accurate measure of inflation than the present index that is used to calculate cost-of-living adjustments. In fact, it is less accurate. The coalition plan, as proposed in the deficit-reduction super committee, would reduce...

WASHINGTON - Home builders started projects in September at the fastest pace in 17 months, a hopeful sign for the economy. Most of the gain was driven by a surge in volatile apartment construction. That could help create jobs and boost economic growth, but it doesn't signal a comeback for the depressed housing market. Single-family home construction, which represents nearly 70 percent of homes built, rose only slightly. And building permits fell to a five-month low. Overall, builders began work in September on a seasonally adjusted 658,000 homes, the Commerce Department said yesterday.

Stores are trying everything they can think of to disguise the fact that you're going to pay more for clothes this fall. Some are using less fabric and calling it the new look. Others are adding cheap stitching and trumpeting it as a redesign. And the buttons on that blouse? Chances are you're not going to think it's worth paying several dollars more for the shirt just to have them. Retailers are raising prices on merchandise an average of 10 percent across-the-board this fall in an effort to offset their rising costs for materials and labor.

The cost of living in the United States climbed more than forecast in July, which could make it harder for Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke to persuade colleagues to immediately act to spur growth after manufacturing in the Philadelphia region plunged in August. The consumer price index increased 0.5 percent from June, more than twice the 0.2 percent median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, figures from the Labor Department showed yesterday. The Philadelphia Fed's general economic index dropped to minus 30.7 this month, the lowest...

China’s inflation rose to its highest level in nearly three years in May, thanks largely to stubbornly high food prices, adding to economic and social strains that have fanned recent protests. The 5.5 percent rise in the consumer price index reported Tuesday was in line with expectations but higher than April’s 5.3 percent and March’s 32-month high of 5.4 percent. The National Statistics Bureau said the main factor was an 11.7 percent jump in food prices. While food costs are likely to moderate as supplies improve over the...

WASHINGTON -- Consumer prices in October posted their biggest increase in five months, pinching pocketbooks at the gas pump and at the grocery store. The latest picture of the nation's pricing climate showed that inflation is picking up now that the economy has emerged from a slow spell. That is bolstering the case for the Federal Reserve to bump up short-term interest rates for a fifth time this year when policy makers meet Dec. 14. The government's most closely watched inflation gauge, the Consumer Price Index, rose 0.6 percent in October, compared with a 0.2 percent rise in September, the Labor...

RE "SENIORS to fight attempt to change Social Security" by Michael Levenson and Alex Katz (Page A1, Oct. 28): You describe the Concord Coalition as a "nonpartisan think tank. " The coalition has a long history of trying to take Social Security benefits away from retirees. Their members claim that their version of the consumer price index is a more accurate measure of inflation than the present index that is used to calculate cost-of-living adjustments. In fact, it is less accurate. The coalition plan, as proposed in the deficit-reduction super...

WASHINGTON — For all the attention given to almost $4-a-gallon gas, the biggest threat to containing inflation may be the shift away from homeownership, which is pushing up the cost of leases across the nation’s 38 million rented residences. Excluding food and energy, shelter represents about 40 percent of the consumer price index, and accounted for almost one-quarter of the 1.3-percentage-point rise in April. That share has grown as falling home prices shake Americans’ confidence in housing as an investment.

WASHINGTON - Consumer prices have fallen more in the past year than in any 12-month period in nearly six decades - a huge break for shoppers but also a reminder that prices are being restrained by weak spending that is likely to slow an economic recovery. The recession and lower energy costs kept a lid on prices last month, causing consumer inflation to fall to zero. Most economists think prices are now in a sweet spot: ultra-low inflation without a serious risk of deflation, a destabilizing spiral of falling prices and wages.