Prices of Hosiery and Underwear Related to All Prices, for Selected Periods Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; THE CONFERENCE Board 150 100 ACTUAL WHOLESALE PRICE INDEX, 1926=100 COMPUTED INDEX BASED ON 1926-1941 RELATIONSHIPS (COMPUTED INDEX EQUALS -10.7406835 PLUS 0.97808419 TIMES INDEX OF ALL WHOLESALE PRICES MINUS 1.3363887 TIMES YEAR MINUS 1931) NOV. 127 101 100 50 1926 150 100 50 TREND LINE TIME TREND IN HOSIERY AND UNDERWEAR PRICE INDEX HOSIERY AND UNDERWEAR PRICE INDEX AS RELATED TO INDEX MOS. Are. JUN. MAR. SEPT 1./JUL. NOK MAY MAR. VI MOS. OCE APR. AVE. COTTON, GOODS OILS AND FATS Wholesale Price Indexes for Oils and Fats and for All Commodities Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; THE CONFERENCE BOARD Index Numbers, 1926=100 Wholesale Price Indexes for Cotton Goods and for All Commodities Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; THE CONFERENCE BOARD Index Numbers, 1926=100 Prices of Meat Related to All Prices, for Selected Periods Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; THE CONFERENCE BOARD Prices of Petroleum and Products Related to All Prices, for Selected Periods Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics; THE CONFERENCE BOARD 150 ACTUAL WHOLESALE PRICE INDEX, 1926 = 100 NOV. 130 TABLE 1.-Relation of selected commodity wholesale price indexes to total wholesale price indexes 1 Based on the average relationship between prices for the specified groups of commodities and the movement of the all-commodity index. See text for explanations. Except where noted, the relationships were based on the years 1921-41. It would be instructive to know which prices, or whether any prices, have risen more since 1939 than was to be expected in the light of the rise in the average of all prices. We would also want to know which prices have shown a lagging tendency. With this information, it would be possible to ascertain whether the latest prices in each of these segments of the price structure are out of line. The technique employed for this purpose is familiar enough to the statistician. For the sake of others, a simple explanation of what has been done is in order.1 For example, each dot in the "dot chart" or "scatter diagram," representing price data on fats and oils, shows on one axis the price index of all wholesale prices and on the other axis the price index of fats and oils. The straight line running through these dots is so chosen that the sum of the squares of the perpendicular distances from these dots to the line is a minimum. It is technically known as a line of regression. It is often popularly termed a "line of relationship." It is labeled a "trend line" on this chart. What it purports to represent is a 1 See Survey of Current Business, March 1947, for an analysis by Louis J. Paradiso and Lois H. Rodriguez, of changes which had occurred through February 22, 1947. The technique employed here is substantially the same as that used there. |