Economics Reference and Data Sources: Consumer Price Index, Consumer Spending, and Inflation

"The Consumer Price Index (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 a measure of the change in the cost of living, and the most often used indicator or inflation.

Offered detailed breakdown of goods and services comprising the CPI. This archive covers 2000 through the last issue in 2017.
1974-2007 reports available in print at: JLM 76-1621

Annual consumer price index and percentage change in one simple chart since 1913, from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

"The Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) program provides data on expenditures, income, and demographic characteristics of consumers in the United States."

"On price stability, the FOMC adjusted its strategy for achieving its longer-run inflation goal of 2 percent by noting that it "seeks to achieve inflation that averages 2 percent over time. 'To this end, the revised statement states that "following periods when inflation has been running persistently below 2 percent, appropriate monetary policy will likely aim to achieve inflation moderately above 2 percent for some time.'"

"Inflation is a quantitative measure of the rate at which the average price level of a basket of selected goods and services in an economy increases over some period of time. It is the rise in the general level of prices where a unit of currency effectively buys less than it did in prior periods. Often expressed as a percentage, inflation thus indicates a decrease in the purchasing power of a nation’s currency."

"Inflation reduces the purchasing power of each unit of currency, which leads to increases in the prices of goods and services over time. It's an economics term that means you have to spend more to fill your gas tank, buy a gallon of milk, or get a haircut. In other words, it increases your cost of living."

A series of videos discussing inflation, what it is, and how it's measured.

Offers a series of graphs and charts of inflation data.

A video which explores "the basics of deflation, including the definition of deflation, how the CPI changes when there is deflation, and why economists tend to be concerned when deflation occurs."