Some Key points about the …

US Consumer Price Index (CPI)

 

• The Consumer Price Index measures the overall change in consumer prices based on a representative basket of goods and services over time.

• The CPI is the most widely used measure of inflation, closely followed by policymakers, financial markets, businesses, and consumers.

• The widely quoted CPI is based on an index covering 93% of the U.S. population, while a related index covering wage earners and clerical workers is used for cost-of-living adjustments to federal benefits.

• The CPI is based on about 80,000 price quotes collected monthly from some 23,000 retail and service establishments as well as 50,000 rental housing units.

• Housing rents are used to estimate the change in shelter costs including owner-occupied housing that account for about a third of the CPI.