Attachment III

U.S. Bureau of
L abor Statistics

BLS national and regional offices
Washington, DC

Bureau of Labor Statistics
2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20212
(202) 691-7000
CPI_info@bls.gov

Atlanta

Bureau of Labor Statistics
61 Forsyth Street, SW, Room 7T50
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 893-4222
BLSInfoAtlanta@bls.gov

Boston

Bureau of Labor Statistics
JFK Federal Building, E-310
Boston, MA 02203
(617) 565-2327
BLSInfoBoston@bls.gov

Chicago

Bureau of Labor Statistics
J.C. Kluczynski Federal Office Building
230 South Dearborn Street, Room 960
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 353-1880
BLSInfoChicago@bls.gov

Dallas

Bureau of Labor Statistics
525 South Griffin Street, Room 221
Dallas, TX 75202
(972) 850-4800
BLSInfoDallas@bls.gov

Kansas City

Bureau of Labor Statistics
Two Pershing Square Building
2300 Main Street, Suite 1190
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 285-7000
BLSInfoKansasCity@bls.gov

New York

Bureau of Labor Statistics
New York-New Jersey Information Office
201 Varick Street, Room 808
New York, NY 10014
(646) 264-3600
BLSInfoNY@bls.gov

Philadelphia

The Consumer Price Index

Housing Survey:
Your Input is Important

Bureau of Labor Statistics
Suite 610 East – The Curtis Center
170 South Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 597-3282
BLSInfoPhiladelphia@bls.gov

San Francisco

Bureau of Labor Statistics
90 7th Street, Suite 14-100
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 625-2270
BLSInfoSF@bls.gov

•

Questions?

If you have any questions or comments
regarding any aspect of the survey,
send them to the Division of Consumer
Prices and Price Indexes, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
Washington DC 20212, call (202) 691-6991,
or e-mail: CPI_info@bls.gov.
The U.S. Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) has approved this collection
of information and has assigned 12200163 as the control number. Without OMB
approval and this number, we would not
be able to conduct this survey.

bls.gov | 

@BLS_gov

We need your help to measure inflation

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), an agency
of the Department of Labor, is the principal
statistical data gathering organization of the
Federal government in the areas of labor
and economics. We are asking for your
voluntary participation in the Consumer Price
Index (CPI) Housing Survey. The CPI Housing
Survey is used to measure price changes for
what people pay to live in their rental houses
or apartments. Your cooperation in this
important survey will help provide the “big
picture” of the U.S. economy.

What is the CPI?

The CPI is the nation’s chief measure of
inflation at the retail level. It measures
changes over time in the cost of buying a
fixed market basket of goods and services
needed for day-to-day living. Calculated and
published by BLS, the CPI is used by business,
labor, and government for making informed
economic decisions. It is widely used to
adjust payments under collective bargaining
agreements and other contracts. The Federal
government uses the CPI to adjust Social
Security payments, personal income taxes,
and other program payments for the effects
of inflation.

Housing accounts for more than 40
percent of the CPI

The Housing portion of the CPI has three
components: shelter; fuel and other utilities; and
household furnishings and operations. Together,
they account for more than 40 percent of the
CPI. Shelter is the largest of these components
and accounts for approximately 30 percent of
the CPI. BLS measures the changes in shelter
costs primarily from information collected in the
CPI Housing Survey, in which you have been
asked to participate.

Your home was chosen at random

The CPI is continuously updated to maintain its
accuracy and relevance in today’s economy.
One sixth of the addresses in the Housing Survey
are replaced annually, using a random sampling
procedure. Your home was selected to represent
a large number of similar housing units in the CPI.
This address was chosen—neither you nor your
household as individuals were selected. If you
move, we will interview the new resident at this
address in the future.

All information is confidential

Confidentiality and burden concerns

We ask for just a little of your time

Confidentiality statement:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, its employees,
agents, and partner statistical agencies will
use the information you provide for statistical
purposes only and will hold the information
in confidence to the full extent permitted by
law. In accordance with the Confidential
Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency
Act (44 U.S.C. 3572) and other applicable
Federal laws, your responses will not be
disclosed in identifiable form without your
informed consent. Per the Federal
Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015,
Federal information systems are protected from
malicious activities through cybersecurity
screening of transmitted data.

All the information you give to the BLS data
collector for this survey is confidential. BLS staff
are sworn to maintain the confidentiality of
all responses. No one else has access to your
responses. All information is presented only in
the form of statistical summaries. You will not be
personally identified.
BLS collects information on the changes in
housing costs by visiting selected homes on a
predetermined schedule. We will contact you
either by telephone or by personal visit just twice
a year. On rare occasions, other BLS employees
may re-interview you as part of our Data Quality
Assurance Program. Such an interview should
take an average of 5 to 12 minutes.

The CPI is released monthly

The CPI is available on the BLS-CPI homepage
at: www.bls.gov/cpi shortly after release of
the data around the 15th of each month. In
addition, CPI information is available in the BLS
periodical: CPI Detailed Report at: www.bls.gov/
cpi/cpi_dr.htm.

Thank you!

By participating in the CPI Housing Survey, you
help make the CPI possible.

Voluntary nature:
This survey is authorized by law, 29 U.S.C.2.
Your voluntary cooperation is needed to
make the results of the survey comprehensive,
accurate, and timely.
Public burden statement:
The survey interview can be completed in an
estimated 5 to 15 minutes.
• To determine eligibility–6 minutes
• If eligible, to complete the interview – 9 minutes
• Long pricing – 7 minutes
• Short pricing-5 minutes