Overview

Consumer Price Indexes

Contents

Data available

  • Price indexes are available for the U.S., the four Census regions, size of city, cross-classifications of regions and size-classes, and for 26 local areas. Indexes are available for major groups of consumer expenditures (food and beverages, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, recreation,education and communications, and other goods and services), for items within each group, and for special categories, such as services.
  • Monthly indexes are available for the U.S., the four Census regions, and some local areas. More detailed item indexes are available for the U.S. than for regions and local areas.
  • Indexes are available for two population groups: a CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) which covers approximately 87 percent of the total population and a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers 32 percent of the population.
  • Some series, such as the U.S. City Average All items index, begin as early as 1913.

Coverage

  • The CPI represents changes in prices of all goods and services purchased for consumption by urban households. User fees (such as water and sewer service) and sales and excise taxes paid by the consumer are also included. Income taxes and investment items (like stocks, bonds, and life insurance) are not included.
  • The CPI-U includes expenditures by urban wage earners and clerical workers, professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, retirees and others not in the labor force. The CPI-W includes only expenditures by those in hourly wage earning or clerical jobs.

Sources of data

  • Prices for the goods and services used to calculate the CPI are collected in 87 urban areas throughout the country and from about 23,000 retail and service establishments. Data on rents are collected from about 50,000 landlords or tenants.
  • The weight for an item is derived from reported expenditures on that item as estimated by the Consumer Expenditure Survey.

Reference period

  • Prices are taken throughout the month.

Forms of publication

  • Monthly news release. Consumer Price Index. Electronic access available.
  • Historical data in Handbook of Labor Statistics. Electronic access available.
  • Diskettes
  • LABSTAT database.

Uses

  • As an economic indicator. As the most widely used measure of inflation, the CPI is an indicator of the effectiveness of government policy. In addition, business executives, labor leaders and other private citizens use the index as a guide in making economic decisions.
  • As a deflator of other economic series. The CPI and its components are used to adjust other economic series for price change and to translate these series into inflation-free dollars.
  • As a means for adjusting income payments. Over 2 million workers are covered by collective bargaining agreements which tie wages to the CPI. The index affects the income of almost 80 million people as a result of statutory action: 47.8 million Social Security beneficiaries, about 4.1 million military and Federal Civil Service retirees and survivors, and about 22.4 million food stamp recipients. Changes in the CPI also affect the cost of lunches for the 26.7 million children who eat lunch at school. Some private firms and individuals use the CPI to keep rents, royalties, alimony payments and child support payments in line with changing prices. Since 1985, the CPI has been used to adjust the Federal income tax structure to prevent inflation-induced increases in taxes.

Major research in progress

  • Continuing research on technical improvements in the calculation of the CPI
  • Continuing work on the next major weight revision of the CPI

 

Last Modified Date: October 16, 2001