Consumer price index

In the United States, the Consumer Price Indexes are measurements of prices paid by urban consumers for a representative basket of goods and services. There are several different consumer price indexes, which are calculated monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a branch of the Department of Labor.


 * The CPI-U is the most commonly quoted CPI, and is often cited as the measure of "inflation." TIPS are indexed to CPI-U.
 * CPI-W is the index to which Social Security benefits are adjusted.
 * CPI-E is an experimental index, calculated since 1987, which measures typical goods and services used by the elderly population.
 * CPI-U-RS is a research index, which recalculates older values of the CPI-U according to current methods.