Latest Figures Released for Consumer Price Index Rates
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased by 0.1 percent in November 2010. This figure was just released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Indexes for food and energy slightly increased in November 2010 and indexes for food at home also rose in November after being unchanged in October.
The Consumer Price Index, referred to as the CPI, is a measure of the average change in prices of goods and services purchased by households over time. The CPI’s are based on prices of goods and services that include food, clothing, shelter, fuels, transportation fares, charges for doctor and dentist services, drugs and other goods and services people purchase for daily living needs.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPI’s for the following population groups:
- Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers- Covering households of wage earners and clerical workers comprising a total of 32 percent of the population, and
- All Urban Consumers and Chained CPI for All Urban Consumers- covering approximately 87 percent of the total population including wage earners and clerical worker households; groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, temporary/short-term workers, the self-employed, the unemployed, and retirees and others not in the labor force.
For additional information on the Consumer Price Index visit the CPI homepage at http://www.bls.gov/cpi/.