An economist is tasked with creating a new 'Skilled Labor Cost Index' to track the cost of hiring skilled workers in a specific industry over time. To ensure the index provides a clear and consistent way to compare labor costs from year to year, which of the following methodological steps is the most fundamental and shared with the construction of an index that tracks the changing cost of a typical household's purchases?

Common Foundations of Economic Indices

The fundamental methodology for constructing a consumer price index and a nominal wage index is different because the former tracks the cost of a collection of items while the latter tracks a single type of payment.

Developing a New Economic Index