Counterfactual imputation approaches for the housing component of the October 2025 CPI

As a result of a lapse in appropriations in 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics could not collect rent values for the housing component of the October 2025 Consumer Price Index. This article explains why the program used a carry-forward imputation methodology to address these missing rent values. The article then examines counterfactual index results based on various alternative imputation approaches. Due to the 2025 lapse in appropriations, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) could not collect Consumer Price Index (CPI) housing survey data for the October 2025 reference period. When operations resumed in November, BLS focused collection efforts on November 2025 data, and did not attempt retroactive collection.1 This resulted in completely missing rent values for the entire month of October 2025. BLS faced a decision about how to impute the missing rent data.