 In 1934, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics began the computation of a daily Commodity price index that became available to the public in 1940.By 1952, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a Spot Market Price Index that measured the price movements of "22 sensitive basic commodities whose markets are presumed to be among the first to be influenced by changes in economic conditions.As such, it serves as one early indication of impending changes in business activity."