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Inflation rate
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Inflation can be defined as the overall general upward price movement of goods and services in an economy. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures inflation as experienced by consumers in their day-to-day living expenses. (It is sometimes referred to as the retail price index.)' The CPI represents changes in prices of all goods and services purchased for consumption by urban households. 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. The inflation rate shown in this dataset is calculated from seasonally adjusted CPI as published by BLS.