President Clinton welcomed the new data, saying: "I am extremely pleased with today's announcement.
They also deny accusations that they manipulate sales and tax data, saying they would face stiff penalties for doing so.
City officials cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from the data, saying the numbers were meant to provoke conversation, not rivalry.
But they strongly disputed the accuracy of the price data, saying their findings suggested a decline closer to 20 percent.
Although he wasn't aware of any data saying people on vacation tip better, he said, "There's certainly research showing people in a good mood tip more".
He called on the city Education Department to more thoroughly monitor how schools report safety data, saying its "lax attitude has allowed for a disturbing trend".
"In the past, we really only had data saying that C.A.B.G. was really the only thing that could be done," he added.
In its report, the government also revised its November data, saying sales were 1.8 percent higher rather than the 1.3 percent it had originally reported.
But on Wednesday, the company said it would no longer provide that data, saying it was "no longer a meaningful metric".
