The accuracy of retail prices published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for calculating the retail cost and farm-retail spread of the farm-food market basket has been questioned by food-industry groups and the National Commission on Food Marketing. The Commission alleged that retail prices and spreads are overstated--especially for beef, pork, and poultry--because BLS prices do not include the total effect of weekend price specials. Because of the points raised by the Commission, the Economic Research Service contracted with BLS to collect weekend prices from all of their sample stores and to determine the frequency with which special prices are offered. The objectives were to determine (1) the difference between weekend prices and first-of-week prices, (2) if U.S. average prices might be lowered significantly by including weekend prices from all stores, and (3) the effect of giving weekend prices additional weight in U.S. averages. This article presents findings of this special BLS survey.
