Consumer Price Index
Blue MauMau's up-to-date and interactive Consumer Price Index. Store owners, want to know where prices are heading? Here it is. By hovering over the line with a mouse, the index price for a given month on that point can be seen.
Chart by Blue MauMau. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
What is the CPI? The Consumer Price Index measures the change in consumer goods and services purchased by American households. The index is organized by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, who explains that the CPI "is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services." It is used largely as an economic indicator and a reflection of dollar value. The CPI is a reflection of a bundle of some 200 types of goods like food and beverage, full service meals, apparel, transportation, medical supplies and care, pets and pet products, haircuts and others.
The index was set at 100 during a 36-month period of 1982 through 1984. An index of 200 means a one hundred percent increase since the mid 1980s.
Here are frequently asked questions that the BLS has replied to in regard to the CPI.
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