2012 EI Snaphot and CPI Press Release
Capitol Hill, Saipan – Governor Eloy S. Inos and Lt. Governor Jude U. Hofschneider, through the CNMI Department of Commerce’s Central Statistics Division (CSD), released for public consumption a Snapshot of the Economic Indicator (EI) Report, and the full Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for 4th Quarter 2012.
Absent an accessible full EI report, incomplete due to missing data from other data sources, the “snapshot” intends to release areas that are available for public access or consumption.
According to CSD Director Alfonis Sound, “I truly believe that available data should be released on a quarterly and consistent basis, on whatever we have that is available for printing and not be stalled because of other data delays from other data sources. To comply with our Governor and Lt. Governor’s directive on performance output, we can’t continue to delay these reports.”
The Third Quarter 2010 EI Report was the last EI report published back in late 2010.
The statistical information reflected in the Fourth Quarter 2012 CPI publication contains information that measures quarterly changes in prices of a “basket” of goods and services, which are representative of purchases by private households in the CNMI.
Commerce Secretary Sixto Igisomar assured the Office of the Governor that the CPI is in good order and within the standards of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Federal Authority on CPI.
“We have an excellent support system from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) which is in line with our membership since 1983. Such system ensures data quality and completeness of work,” said Secretary Igisomar.
CSD’s Justin Andrew echoed the Secretary and stated, “For whatever interpretation there may be, the best thing we did is removal of past ‘data-noise’ within our methodology, but no significant changes.”
Mr. Andrew has close to 15 years of service working for the Central Statistics Division. He is a key supervisor with respect to all CPI data collection and entry, inclusive of facilitating partnerships with the Department of the Interior, Dr. Levin of Harvard University, Dr. Haberkorn and Mr. Ryan of SPC, Mr. Hannon, and Mr. Wil Maui of Data Talks.
The Central Statistics Division would like to extend its appreciation to all data contributors of both reports.
The 4th quarter 2012 CPI report and the EI-Snapshot can easily be accessed at our commerce website: www.commerce.gov.mp , under the Central Statistics Division – http://ver1.cnmicommerce.com/divisions/central-statistics/
For any questions or comments, please contact the Central Statistics Director, Alfonis M. Sound at e-mail director.csd@commerce.gov.mp or call our office at (670)-664-3023/45.