TABLE 2.-AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES OF SPECIFIED FOOD ARTICLES AND PER CENT OF INCREASE OR DECREASE JULY 15 OF CERTAIN SPECIFIED YEARS COMPARED WITH JULY 15, 1913.

[Percentage changes of five-tenths of 1 per cent and over are given in whole numbers.]

Average retail price July 15

Article.

Unit.

Per cent of increase (+) or decrease (-) July 15 of each specified year compared with July 15, 1913.

1913 1914 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1914 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922

11.1

Pound.. 34. 834.2

...do....

...do..... 21.9 22.7 33.0 33.5
..do.... 15.9 15.4 27.4 32.5

Pound.. 26. 4 27.0 32.7 42. 1
..do..

43. 4

30.6

40.3

40.7

Rib roast.

Plate beef..

...do.

Chuck roast..

29. 1

16.5

Pork chops..

Bacon..

Ham..

Lamb, leg of.
Hens..

Salmon, canned,
red.
Milk, fresh.

Oleomargarine

Cheese.

Flour.

48.6 40. 2 39. 2 + 2 + 24+ 59 + 64 + 84 +52 +48 45.0 35. 834. 2 + 5 + 32 + 74+ 75 +94 +54 +47 35.9 29. 3 28.6 + 3 + 28 +65 +66 + 78 +45 +42 27.7 28.5 20.7 20.3 +3 + 34 + 77 + 69 + 74+26+24 22.4 20.3 19. 1 13. 212. 8 + 3 + 35 +84 +66 + 57+ 8+ 5 31.7 37.9 46. 2 43.731.3 31. 4+3+46 + 75 +113+101 +58 +59 43.0 52.3 58.1 54. 7,43. 2 40, 62+54 + 87+108 +95 +54 +45 39.5 48.7 56.7 59.8 51. 0 52.21 +41 + 73 +102+113 +81 +86 29.9 37.3 38.2 41. 135. 237. 4 + 3 + 52 + 89 +94 +109 +79 +90 28.0 38.0 42.0 45, 038, 835.7 + 1+ 29+ 75 +94 +107 +79 +65 126.61 29.61 32.21 38.7 36.8 32. 1

...do..... 16. 4 16. 9921.9
...do.... 12. 2 12.6
..do.... 21.7 22.3
...do..... 28. 0 27.4
...do..... 28. 1 27.8
.do..... 19. 7 20.3
..do. 21.7 22.0

41.2 29. 531. 5+ 4+ 51 +53 +96 +88 +35 +44 29.0 16.7 17.2 - 3+72+104 +164 +82 + 5+ 8 36.4 21.0 22.7

35.7 43.0 42.0 38.9 42.1 49.1 56.6 57.3 42. 3 36, 0+ 1+41 + 64 +89+92 +41 +20 9.9 10.0 10.0 11.9 9.7 8.8 +11 + 77+79 + 79+113+73 +57 7.3 6.7 7.5 8.7 5.8 5.2 - 3 +121 +103 +127+164 +76 +58 5.9 6.7 6.5 7.0 4.4 3.9+ 3+ 97 +123 +117+133 +47 +30 8.7 11.0 9.9 8.7

Table 3 shows the changes in the retail price of each of 22 articles of food as well as the changes in the amounts of these articles that could be purchased for $1, each year, 1913 to 1921, and in July, 1922.

TABLE 3.-AVERAGE RETAIL PRICES OF SPECIFIED ARTICLES OF FOOD AND AMOUNT PURCHASABLE FOR $1, IN EACH YEAR, 1913 TO 1921, AND IN JULY, 1922.

3 Although monthly prices of 43 food articles have been secured since January, 1919, prices of only 22 of these articles have been secured each month since 1913.

Index Numbers of Retail Prices of Food in the United States.

IN TABLE 4 index numbers are given which show the changes in the retail prices of each of 22 food articles, by years from 1907 to 1921, and by months for 1921 and 1922.5 These index numbers, or relative prices, are based on the year 1913 as 100, and are computed by dividing the average price of each commodity for each month and each year by the average price of that commodity for 1913. These figures must be used with caution. For example, the relative price of rib roast for the year 1920 was 168, which means that the average money price for the year 1920 was 68 per cent higher than the average money price for the year 1913. The relative price of bacon for the year 1919 was 205 and for the year 1920, 194, which figures show a drop of 11 points but a decrease of only 5 per cent in the year.

In the last column of Table 4 are given index numbers showing the changes in the retail cost of all articles of food combined. From January, 1913, to December, 1920, 22 articles have been included in the index, and beginning with January, 1921, 43 articles have been used. For an explanation of the method used in making the link between the cost of the market basket of 22 articles, weighted according to the average family consumption in 1901, and the cost of the market basket based on 43 articles and weighted according to the consumption in 1918, see MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW for March, 1921 (p. 25).

The curve shown in the chart on page 21 pictures more readily to the eye the changes in the cost of the family market basket and the trend in the cost of the food budget than do the index numbers given in the table. The retail cost of the food articles included in the index has decreased since July, 1920, until the curve is brought down in July, 1922, to approximately where it was in April, 1917. The chart has been drawn on the logarithmic scale," because the percentages of increase or decrease are more accurately shown than on the arithmetic scale.

4 See note 2, p. 15.

For index numbers of each month, January, 1913, to December, 1920, see MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW for February, 1921, pp. 19-21.

For a discussion of the logarithmic chart see article on "Comparison of arithmetic and ratio charts," by Lucian W. Chaney, MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW for March, 1919, pp. 20-34. Also, "The 'ratio' charts," by Prof. Irving Fisher, reprinted from Quarterly Publications of the American Statistical Association June, 1917, 24 pp.