Consumer price index

In the United States, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measurement 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.


 * CPI-U is the most commonly quoted CPI, and is often cited as the measure of "inflation." Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (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 calculates older values of the CPI-U according to current methods.

CPI tables
The tables below include monthly index levels for the CPI-U and CPI-W indexes.