Consumer Price Index (CPI)
The headline gauge of prices for goods and services bought by urban consumers. The thermometer of inflation; the year-over-year (YoY) change is what markets watch as the "inflation rate."
Key points
- All-items urban consumer price index (seasonally adjusted)
- Watch the YoY change — the headline "inflation rate"
- Includes food and energy, so it is volatile month to month
- One input into monetary policy (rate hikes/cuts)
How to read it
The YoY percent change matters more than the index level. Around 2% is generally seen as healthy; well above signals inflation pressure, below or negative suggests disinflation/deflation. As an all-items measure it includes volatile food and energy, so monthly swings are large.
Recent trend
| Period | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-01 | 332.41 | +2.11 |
| 2026-03-01 | 330.29 | +2.83 |
| 2026-02-01 | 327.46 | +0.87 |
| 2026-01-01 | 326.59 | +0.56 |
| 2025-12-01 | 326.03 | +0.97 |
| 2025-11-01 | 325.06 | +0.82 |
| 2025-09-01 | 324.25 | +0.95 |
| 2025-08-01 | 323.29 | +1.12 |
| 2025-07-01 | 322.17 | +0.73 |
| 2025-06-01 | 321.44 | +0.81 |
| 2025-05-01 | 320.62 | +0.32 |
| 2025-04-01 | 320.3 | +0.52 |
FAQ
What is CPI?
Why look at the year-over-year change?
Sources (primary)
This article is an independent summary based on the official U.S. data below. Please verify the latest and exact details with the official sources.
- FRED (series page)：CPIAUCSL
- Source agency：U.S. BLS
- FRED last updated：2026-05-12 08:03:57-05
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