SCROLL down the page to Consumer Price Index and CLICK on HTML. Then, CLICK on Table 1: Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U): For the MOST RECENT MONTH, find the value of the Unadjusted Price Index Number for each of the following:

1. Food
2. Energy
3. All items less food and energy
4. New Vehicles
5. Alcoholic Beverages
6. Tobacco and Smoking Products
7. Shelter
8. Medical Care Services

What was the base year? (NOTE: The base year has a price index number equal to 100 and is always given in the TITLE of the table. Check FOOTNOTES where they are cited in the body of the table for different index years for specific items.) Summarize your findings. In doing so, compare the price index values. Which of the above has increased in price the most since the base year? Which has increased the least? Did any decrease? (NOTE: The base year has a price index number equal to 100. If the number is GREATER than 100, prices have gone UP since the base year. If the number is SMALLER than 100, prices have gone DOWN since the base year.) Why do you think this is so?

SCROLL down the page to Employment Situation Summary and CLICK on HTML. Then, CLICK on Table A-2. For the most recent month, using “Not Seasonally Adjusted” data, find the value of the Unemployment Rate for each of the following:

1. White men, 20 years and older
2. White women, 20 years and older
3. White Both Sexes, 16-19 years
4. African American men, 20 years and older
5. African American women, 20 years and older
6. African American Both Sexes, 16-19 years
7. Asians

Now, CLICK on RETURN and CLICK on Table A-3 for Hispanic or Latino ethnicity:

1. men 20 years and older
2. women 20 years and older
3. both sexes 16-19 years

Now, CLICK on RETURN and CLICK on Table A-12 for Unemployed Persons by Duration of Unemployment. For the most recent month and the same month ONE YEAR EARLIER, using “Not Seasonally Adjusted” data, find:

1. the number who have been unemployed 27 weeks and over
2. the percent of those unemployed who have been out of work 27 weeks and over.

Finally, CLICK on RETURN and CLICK on Table A-15 for Alternative Measures of Labor Utilization. For the most recent month and the same month ONE YEAR EARLIER, using “Not Seasonally Adjusted” data,

1. find the official national unemployment rate using series U-3
2. find the rate of the broadest measure of the underutilization of American labor using series U-6.
3. identify which folks are included in U-6 and not in U-3

Summarize your findings. In doing so, compare the unemployment rates. Which of the above groups has the highest rate? lowest rate? Why do you think this is so? Compare the number and percent unemployed 27 weeks and longer over the past year. And compare the percent officially defined as unemployed with the broader percentage of folks in the population who are actually unemployed or underemployed over the past year. What do you find?

1. CPI
2. Core CPI
3. Median CPI

1. What was the annual rate of change of Real Gross Domestic Product in the second quarter of 2012?
2. What was the change in the price index for gross domestic purchases in the second quarter?
3. What was the change in the personal consumption expenditure price index for the second quarter?