The Consumer Price Indexes (CPI) program produces monthly data on changes in the prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services.

Next Release: September 16, 2008

August 2008 CPI data are scheduled to be released on September 16, 2008, at 8:30 A.M. Eastern Time.

CPI News Releases

Consumer Price Index

August 14, 2008
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.8 percent in July, following a 1.1 percent increase in June. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.3 percent, the second straight such increase. More...
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All Urban Consumers (Current Series)
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Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (Current Series)
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CPI Tables

Consumer Price Index History Table:

CPI Detailed Report Tables:

  • Consumer Price Index Detailed Report (complete text and tables, including first half 2008 semiannual average indexes), July 2008 (PDF 491K)
  • Consumer Price Index Detailed Report (complete text and tables), June 2008 (PDF 491K)
  • Consumer Price Index Detailed Report (complete text and tables), May 2008 (PDF 491K)
  • Consumer Price Index (complete text and tables), April 2008 (PDF 491K)
  • Consumer Price Index Detailed Report (complete text and tables), March 2008 (PDF 491K)
  • Consumer Price Index Detailed Report (complete text and tables), February 2008 (PDF 491K)
  • Consumer Price Index Detailed Report (complete text and tables), January 2008 (PDF 491K)
  • Archived CPI Detailed Report Tables October 2000-current

Relative Importance of Items in the Consumer Price Index

December 2007:

  • 2005-2006 weights:
  • US City Average (TXT)
  • Relative Importance of Components in the Consumer Price Index, all areas (PDF)
  • 2003-2004 weights:
  • US City Average (TXT)

December 2006:

  • US City Average (TXT)
  • Relative Importance of Components in the Consumer Price Index, all areas (PDF)

Department Store Inventory Price Indexes

  • July 2008 (PDF)
  • June 2008 (PDF)
  • May 2008 (PDF)

CPI Publications

Publications

Reports

  • CPI research series using current methods
  • Reconciliation Between the CPI and PCE Price Index. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) undertook a joint project to detail and quantify the differences between the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Chain-type Price Index. A paper summarizing these differences can be found on the BEA website at http://www.bea.gov/papers/pdf/cpi_pce.pdf. The latest reconciliation tables can be found at http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/nipa_underlying/pce-cpi.asp.
  • Treatment of Owner-Occupied Housing in the CPI - Paper presented to the Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee (FESAC) on December 9, 2005 (PDF)
  • Updating the Housing Age-Bias Regression model in the Consumer Price Index (PDF)
  • NEW Guidelines for Quality Adjustment of New Vehicle Prices (PDF)
  • NEW Experimental Consumer Price Index for Americans 62 years of Age and Older, 1982-2007 (PDF)
  • Response Rates for the Consumer Price Indexes, 2003 (PDF)
  • Response Rates for the Consumer Price Indexes, 2004 (PDF)
  • Response Rates for the Consumer Price Indexes, 2005 (PDF)
  • Response Rates for the Consumer Price Indexes, 2006 (PDF)
  • NEW Response Rates for the Consumer Price Indexes, 2007 (PDF)
  • Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2003 - December 2003 (PDF)
  • Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2004 - December 2004 (PDF)
  • Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2005 - December 2005 (PDF)
  • NEW Variance Estimates for Changes in the Consumer Price Index, January 2007 - December 2007 (PDF)
  • Consumer Price Index Users Survey (PDF 262K)
  • Hedonic Quality Adjustment in the U.S. CPI for:

Recent Monthly Labor Review articles related to the Consumer Price Index

CPI Fact Sheets

How BLS Measures Price Change in the Consumer Price Index for:

CPI Frequently Asked Questions

CPI Special Notices

Notices

Expenditure Weight Update
Effective with the January 2008 release the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has updated the consumption expenditure weights in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) to the 2005-06 period. The updated expenditure weights for these indexes replace the 2003-2004 weights that were introduced effective with the January 2006 CPI release. As originally announced by BLS in December 1998, CPI expenditure weights will continue to be updated at two year intervals subsequent to the 2008 updating.

Each year with the release of the January CPI, seasonal adjustment factors are recalculated to reflect price movements from the just-completed calendar year. This routine annual recalculation may result in revisions to seasonally adjusted indexes for the previous 5 years. BLS made available recalculated seasonally adjusted indexes, as well as recalculated seasonal adjustment factors, for the period January 2003 through December 2007, on Friday, February 15, 2008.

For information on seasonal adjustment in the CPI, including revised indexes, seasonal factors, methodology, and actions taken in 2007, see our page on seasonal adjustment.

Effective with the release in February 2007 of the January 2007 Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began to publish its consumer price indexes rounded to three decimal places. Percent changes will be calculated from the three decimal place indexes. Those percent changes will continue to be published to one decimal place. For additional information, please see "Publishing Consumer Price Indexes to Three Decimal Places: Questions and Answers".

Soon after the publication of September CPI data on October 17th, 2007, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced the annual increase in its benefit payments for the coming year. This change will mean automatic increases in payments from Social Security's Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. The increase will be effective with December 2007 payments received in January 2008. Specific information on the size of the increase is available on the SSA website at http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/colasummary.html.

Contact Us

Contacts

    For hard copies of Consumer Price Index publications or historical data and help with general index questions, including escalator clauses in contracts:

    • Information and Analysis: (202) 691-7000

    For more information about how we treat and price commodity and service items in the Consumer Price Index:

    • Food: (202) 691-6988
    • Housing (rent and owners' equivalent rent): (202) 691-6991
    • Transportation and Household Commodities (including gasoline, new cars, furniture and appliances): (202) 691-6982
    • Apparel and Sundry (Nondurable) Commodities: (202) 691-6979
    • Services (including medical care, utilities, insurance): (202) 691-6985

    For help finding Consumer Price Index data in LABSTAT and for information on seasonal adjustment and other technical issues:

    • Production and Control: (202) 691-6968
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