Consumer Price Index (CPI) or Cost of Living
Q: How Do I Find the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or Cost of Living?
A: The CPI
is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by
urban consumers for selected items. Therefore, as a Cost of Living
Index it serves as a guideline. However, the CPI is the most widely
used measure of inflation and is often used to adjust consumers' income
payments.
Go to /www.bls.gov/cpi/
The
latest CPI numbers appear in a column on the right side of this Web page
and reflect spending patterns for two population groups.
All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) represents about 87 percent of the total U.S. population and is based on the expenditures of almost all residents of urban areas. The Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) is based on the expenditures of households included in the CPI-U definition that also meet two requirements: More than one-half of the household's income must come from clerical or wage occupations and at least one of the household's earners must have been employed for at least 37 weeks during the previous 12 months. The CPI-W's population represents about 32 percent of the total U.S. population.
Regional and local area indexes are also published. Since local area indexes are more volatile than the national or regional indexes, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) strongly urges users to adopt the national or regional CPIs to measure inflation.
Q: How Do I Compare the Cost of Living in Different
Urban Areas?
A: The CPI cannot be used for this purpose. Instead, consult
the quarterly publication, ACCRA Cost of Living Index: Comparative
Data for Over 300
Urban Areas, available
at the Reference Desk of the Fresno County Library or at www.coli.org.
Reference librarians at any library branch can help you find other
cost of living and
salary comparisons.