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U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) - Inflation Time Series

Source ID: DS-00003 Record Created: 2025-10-25 Last Updated: 2025-10-25 Cataloger: Substrate Data Curation Review Status: Reviewed

Bibliographic Information

Title Statement

  • Main Title: Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average (CPIAUCSL)
  • Subtitle: Monthly U.S. Inflation Measure, Seasonally Adjusted (1947-Present)
  • Abbreviated Title: CPI-U, CPIAUCSL
  • Variant Titles: U.S. CPI, Consumer Price Index, Inflation Index, CPI All Items

Responsibility Statement

  • Publisher/Issuing Body: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)
  • Department/Division: Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) Division
  • Contributors: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS - primary source), U.S. Department of Labor
  • Contact Information: stlsFRED@stls.frb.org

Publication Information

  • Place of Publication: St. Louis, Missouri, USA (FRED); Washington, D.C., USA (BLS)
  • Date of First Publication: 1947-01 (monthly series)
  • Publication Frequency: Monthly (released mid-month, typically day 12-15)
  • Current Status: Active

Edition/Version Information

  • Current Version: Continuous monthly updates
  • Version History: 1947-present continuous series; base period re-anchored periodically (current: 1982-1984 = 100)
  • Versioning Scheme: Monthly releases with minimal historical revisions

Authority Statement

Organizational Authority

Issuing Organization Analysis:

  • Official Name: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED aggregator); Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS - primary authority)
  • Type: Federal Reserve Bank (FRED); Federal Government Statistical Agency (BLS)
  • Established: FRED: 1991; BLS: 1884 (140+ years of labor statistics)
  • Mandate: Federal Reserve Act (FRED); Bureau of Labor Statistics Act - authority to measure labor market conditions and price changes
  • Parent Organization: Federal Reserve System (FRED); U.S. Department of Labor (BLS)
  • Governance Structure: Federal Reserve Bank board (FRED); Presidential appointment + Senate confirmation (BLS Commissioner)

Domain Authority:

  • Subject Expertise: Price measurement, inflation statistics (BLS 140+ years); economic data aggregation (FRED 30+ years)
  • Recognition: BLS is U.S. principal statistical agency for labor and price statistics; CPI is the most widely-used inflation measure globally
  • Publication History: CPI published since 1913 (various forms), continuous monthly since 1947; FRED since 1991
  • Peer Recognition: Federal Reserve, Treasury, Social Security Administration, academic economists worldwide cite BLS CPI

Quality Oversight:

  • Peer Review: BLS methodology reviewed by National Academy of Sciences, academic economists (Boskin Commission, others)
  • Editorial Board: Technical Advisory Committee on the Consumer Price Index
  • Scientific Committee: Bureau of Labor Statistics leadership (professional economists and statisticians)
  • External Audit: Subject to Government Accountability Office (GAO) oversight
  • Certification: Follows international standards (ILO CPI Manual, UN Statistical Commission)

Independence Assessment:

  • Funding Model: Federal appropriations (no commercial interests)
  • Political Independence: Professional statistical agency; BLS Commissioner serves under civil service protections; statutory independence
  • Commercial Interests: None (federal government mission)
  • Transparency: Complete methodology documentation (BLS Handbook of Methods); data collection procedures published

Data Authority

Provenance Classification:

  • Source Type: Primary (BLS direct measurement from price collection)
  • Data Origin: BLS collects ~80,000 price quotes monthly from ~23,000 retail and service establishments across 75 urban areas
  • Chain of Custody: Price collectors → BLS field offices → National office aggregation → Statistical analysis → FRED aggregation → Public access

Primary Source Characteristics:

  • BLS is the authoritative U.S. statistical agency for CPI compilation
  • Direct measurement from retail prices (in-person and online price collection)
  • Legal mandate under Bureau of Labor Statistics Act
  • Follows internationally-recognized Consumer Price Index methodology (ILO CPI Manual)

Scope Note

Content Description

Subject Coverage:

  • Primary Subjects: Inflation, Price Indices, Cost of Living, Consumer Economics
  • Secondary Subjects: Macroeconomics, Monetary Policy, Purchasing Power, Real Value Adjustments
  • Subject Classification:
    • LC: HB (Economic Theory), HC (Economic History and Conditions)
    • Dewey: 338.5 (Prices), 330.973 (U.S. Economics)
  • Keywords: CPI, Consumer Price Index, inflation, price index, purchasing power, cost of living, real wages, deflator, basket of goods, seasonally adjusted

Geographic Coverage:

  • Spatial Scope: United States (75 urban areas covering ~93% of U.S. population)
  • Countries/Regions Included: United States only (separate CPI series exist for regions)
  • Geographic Granularity: National aggregate (separate metropolitan area CPIs available)
  • Coverage Completeness: 93% of U.S. population (all urban consumers)
  • Notable Exclusions: Rural populations (~7% of U.S.), military personnel, institutionalized populations

Temporal Coverage:

  • Start Date: 1947-01 (monthly series); 1913 (earlier annual series)
  • End Date: Present (ongoing monthly updates)
  • Historical Depth: 78+ years (monthly), 112+ years (including earlier series)
  • Frequency of Observations: Monthly
  • Temporal Granularity: Month-level
  • Time Series Continuity: Excellent; continuous monthly data with minimal revisions

Population/Cases Covered:

  • Target Population: All urban consumers (~93% of U.S. population)
  • Inclusion Criteria: Expenditure patterns of urban wage earners, clerical workers, professional, managerial, technical workers, self-employed, unemployed, retirees
  • Exclusion Criteria: Rural non-metropolitan populations, farm families, military on base, institutionalized persons
  • Coverage Rate: 93% of U.S. total population
  • Sample vs. Census: Sample-based: ~23,000 retail establishments, ~80,000 price quotes monthly

Variables/Indicators:

  • Number of Variables: 1 primary series (CPIAUCSL); 8,000+ related detailed CPI series
  • Core Indicators:
    • CPI Index (1982-1984 = 100 baseline)
    • Month-over-month change
    • Year-over-year inflation rate
    • Seasonally adjusted values
  • Derived Variables: Inflation rates (monthly, annual), real wage deflators, purchasing power calculations
  • Data Dictionary Available: Yes - BLS CPI Handbook of Methods

Content Boundaries

What This Source IS:

  • Gold-standard measure of U.S. consumer price inflation
  • Primary indicator used by Federal Reserve for monetary policy (2% inflation target)
  • Official U.S. government price statistic for cost-of-living adjustments (Social Security, tax brackets)
  • Internationally-comparable using ILO CPI Manual framework
  • Best source for understanding U.S. purchasing power changes over time

What This Source IS NOT:

  • NOT a cost-of-living index (does not account for substitution, quality changes perfectly)
  • NOT a measure of prices paid by businesses (use Producer Price Index)
  • NOT adjusted for individual consumption patterns (measures average urban consumer)
  • NOT real-time (2-week lag from month end to publication)
  • NOT granular below national level (use metropolitan area CPIs for local analysis)

Comparison with Similar Sources:

Source Advantages Over This Source Disadvantages vs. This Source
PCE Price Index (Fed preferred) Accounts for consumer substitution; broader coverage Less widely known; more complex methodology
CPI-W (Urban Wage Earners) Specific to wage/clerical workers Narrower coverage (32% of population vs 93%)
Chained CPI Better accounts for substitution More complex; less historical data
PPI (Producer Price Index) Business/wholesale prices Not consumer-facing; different concept

Access Conditions

Technical Access

API Information:

Authentication:

  • Authentication Required: No (for CSV); Yes for FRED API
  • Authentication Type: API Key (free) for FRED API
  • Registration Process: Sign up at https://fredaccount.stlouisfed.org/apikeys
  • Approval Required: No (instant API key)
  • Approval Timeframe: Immediate

Rate Limits:

  • Requests per Second: Not documented for CSV download; reasonable use expected
  • Requests per Day: FRED API: 120 requests/minute
  • Concurrent Connections: Not specified
  • Throttling Policy: API enforces rate limits with 429 status code
  • Rate Limit Headers: Not provided for CSV; API includes rate limit info

Query Capabilities:

  • Filtering: CSV downloads full series; FRED API supports date range filtering
  • Sorting: Chronological (inherent in time series)
  • Pagination: Not applicable (full series download)
  • Aggregation: Pre-aggregated monthly data
  • Joins: Not applicable (single time series)

Data Formats:

  • Available Formats: CSV (direct download), JSON/XML (FRED API)
  • Format Quality: Well-formed CSV; UTF-8 encoded; consistent schema
  • Compression: Not compressed
  • Encoding: UTF-8

Download Options:

  • Bulk Download: Yes - full CSV download
  • Streaming API: No
  • FTP/SFTP: No
  • Torrent: No
  • Data Dumps: Full series download each time (not incremental)

Reliability Metrics:

  • Uptime: Very high (99.9%+ estimated); Federal Reserve infrastructure
  • Latency: <1 second for CSV download
  • Breaking Changes: Schema stable for decades; BLS methodology changes documented years in advance
  • Deprecation Policy: Federal Reserve commitment to long-term data availability
  • Service Level Agreement: No formal SLA (federal government service)

Legal/Policy Access

License:

  • License Type: Public Domain (U.S. Government Work)
  • License Version: N/A
  • License URL: https://www.usa.gov/government-works
  • SPDX Identifier: CC0-1.0 (effectively public domain for U.S. government data)

Usage Rights:

  • Redistribution Allowed: Yes (public domain)
  • Commercial Use Allowed: Yes (public domain)
  • Modification Allowed: Yes (public domain)
  • Attribution Required: Not legally required; citation recommended as scholarly best practice
  • Share-Alike Required: No

Cost Structure:

  • Access Cost: Free

Terms of Service:

  • TOS URL: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/legal/
  • Key Restrictions: No restrictions (public domain); standard disclaimer
  • Liability Disclaimers: Federal Reserve not liable for decisions based on data
  • Privacy Policy: FRED collects website analytics; no personal data in economic statistics

Collection Development Policy Fit

Relevance Assessment

Substrate Mission Alignment:

  • Human Progress Focus: Purchasing power and cost-of-living central to measuring economic wellbeing and human progress
  • Problem-Solution Connection:
    • Links to Problems: Inflation volatility, wage erosion, economic inequality measurement
    • Links to Solutions: Monetary policy frameworks, real wage adjustments, retirement planning
  • Evidence Quality: Gold-standard for U.S. inflation measurement; supports evidence-based economic analysis

Collection Priorities Match:

  • Priority Level: CRITICAL - essential source for U.S. economic domain
  • Uniqueness: Official U.S. government inflation measure; most widely-used price index
  • Comprehensiveness: Fills critical gap; no other source provides this combination of authority, coverage, and historical depth

Comparison with Holdings

Overlapping Sources:

  • DS-00002: U.S. GDP (complementary - GDP for output, CPI for prices)
  • Future: PCE Price Index (Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure)

Unique Contribution:

  • Official BLS/U.S. government price statistic
  • Most widely-cited inflation measure (Social Security COLA, tax brackets)
  • Longest consistent time series (1947-present monthly)
  • Used for real value adjustments across all economic research

Preferred Use Cases:

  • When official U.S. government inflation statistics required
  • Historical inflation analysis (1947-present)
  • Real wage and real value calculations
  • Cost-of-living adjustment research
  • Monetary policy analysis (Federal Reserve 2% target)

Technical Specifications

Data Model

Schema Documentation:

Entity Types:

  • Monthly CPI observations (time series)

Key Relationships:

  • Date → CPI Value

Primary Keys:

  • Date (YYYY-MM-DD)

Foreign Keys:

  • None (single time series)

Metadata Standards Compliance

Standards Followed:

  • Dublin Core
  • DCAT (Data Catalog Vocabulary)
  • Schema.org Dataset
  • SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange)
  • DDI (Data Documentation Initiative) - minimal
  • ISO 19115 (Geographic Information Metadata) - not applicable
  • MARC
  • Other: ILO CPI Manual methodology standards

Metadata Quality:

  • Completeness: 90% of elements populated
  • Accuracy: High - metadata maintained by FRED and BLS
  • Consistency: Excellent - SDMX compliance ensures consistency

API Documentation Quality

Documentation Assessment:

  • Completeness: Comprehensive - all endpoints documented with examples
  • Examples Provided: Yes - extensive examples in multiple programming languages
  • Error Messages: Clear HTTP status codes and error descriptions
  • Change Log: Maintained at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/docs/api/fred/
  • Tutorials: Available - step-by-step guides for common tasks
  • Support Forum: Email support stlsFRED@stls.frb.org; no public forum

Source Evaluation Narrative

Methodological Assessment

Data Collection Methodology:

Sampling Design:

  • Method: Probability sample (scientifically-selected retail establishments and items)
  • Sample Size: ~23,000 retail and service establishments; ~80,000 price quotes monthly
  • Sampling Frame: Universe of U.S. urban retail establishments
  • Stratification: By item category, geographic region, establishment type
  • Weighting: Expenditure weights from Consumer Expenditure Survey (updated every 2 years)

Data Collection Instruments:

  • Instrument Type: Direct price observation (in-person and online price collection)
  • Validation: BLS field supervisors verify price quotes; automated consistency checks
  • Question Wording: Standardized price collection protocols (exact item specifications)
  • Mode: In-person visits (grocery, retail), phone (services), online (e-commerce)

Quality Control Procedures:

  • Field Supervision: BLS regional offices supervise price collectors
  • Validation Rules: Automated checks for price changes >10%; item substitution protocols
  • Consistency Checks: Cross-validation across similar items and geographic areas
  • Verification: Monthly review by BLS economists
  • Outlier Treatment: Large price changes investigated and verified before inclusion

Error Characteristics:

  • Sampling Error: Very low for national CPI (large sample); confidence intervals not published
  • Non-sampling Error: Item substitution bias, quality adjustment challenges, new product introduction lag
  • Known Biases: Upward bias (~0.5-1.0% annually) from substitution, quality changes (Boskin Commission findings)
  • Accuracy Bounds: Academic estimates suggest ±0.1-0.3% for monthly CPI

Methodology Documentation:

  • Transparency Level: 5/5 (Exemplary)
  • Documentation URL: https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/
  • Peer Review Status: BLS methods reviewed by National Academy of Sciences; published in peer-reviewed journals
  • Reproducibility: Methodology fully documented; data collection procedures published

Currency Assessment

Update Characteristics:

  • Update Frequency: Monthly (released mid-month, typically day 12-15)
  • Update Reliability: Extremely consistent; releases follow strict schedule (8:30 AM ET)
  • Update Notification: BLS release calendar published; FRED email alerts available
  • Last Updated: 2025-08 (most recent as of October 2025)

Timeliness:

  • Collection to Publication Lag: ~2 weeks (data for month M published mid-month M+1)
  • Factors Affecting Timeliness: Price collection window, quality review process
  • Historical Timeliness: Consistent monthly release schedule maintained for decades

Currency for Different Uses:

  • Real-time Analysis: Unsuitable (2-week lag); most current available for monthly data
  • Recent Trends: Excellent (monthly updates capture trends within 6 weeks)
  • Historical Research: Excellent (continuous series 1947-present)

Objectivity Assessment

Potential Biases:

Political Bias:

  • Government Influence: Statistical agency independence protected by law; BLS Commissioner serves under civil service
  • Editorial Stance: Professional statistical neutrality mandated by statute
  • Political Pressure: Occasional political commentary on CPI methodology; independence maintained

Commercial Bias:

  • Funding Sources: Federal appropriations (no commercial interests)
  • Advertising Influence: Not applicable
  • Proprietary Interests: None

Cultural/Social Bias:

  • Geographic Bias: Urban-centric (excludes rural 7%); 75 urban areas weighted by population
  • Social Perspective: Average consumer basket may not reflect low-income or high-income consumption
  • Language Bias: Published in English; limited translation
  • Selection Bias: Item selection based on Consumer Expenditure Survey (updated every 2 years)

Transparency:

  • Bias Disclosure: BLS acknowledges known biases (substitution, quality adjustment); Boskin Commission documented
  • Limitations Stated: Comprehensive methodology documentation notes limitations
  • Raw Data Available: Detailed CPI components published; micro-data not publicly available (establishment confidentiality)

Reliability Assessment

Consistency:

  • Internal Consistency: Item-level CPIs aggregate mathematically to headline CPI
  • Temporal Consistency: Stable methodology; major changes documented and phased in gradually
  • Cross-source Consistency: Good agreement with PCE Price Index, IMF WEO inflation data

Stability:

  • Definition Changes: Occasional - major methodology updates implemented gradually (e.g., geometric mean, hedonic quality adjustment)
  • Methodology Changes: Well-documented; typically phased in over years
  • Series Breaks: Clearly marked when major changes implemented (base period changes)

Verification:

  • Independent Verification: Academic economists extensively study CPI; Boskin Commission independent review
  • Replication Studies: Researchers use CPI data extensively; errors/discrepancies reported and corrected
  • Audit Results: GAO audits BLS periodically; no major data quality issues identified

Accuracy Assessment

Validation Evidence:

  • Benchmark Comparisons: CPI compared to PCE Price Index (Federal Reserve preferred measure); differences documented
  • Coverage Assessments: Expenditure weights updated from Consumer Expenditure Survey
  • Error Studies: Boskin Commission (1996) estimated upward bias ~1.1% annually; BLS improvements reduced to ~0.5%

Accuracy for Different Uses:

  • Point Estimates: Highly reliable for national monthly CPI (large sample)
  • Trend Analysis: Excellent for medium-term trends (6+ months); month-to-month noise exists
  • Cross-sectional Comparison: Not applicable (U.S. only); international comparisons use Harmonized Indices
  • Sub-population Analysis: Limited - metropolitan area CPIs available; no income-specific CPIs

Known Limitations and Caveats

Coverage Limitations

Geographic Gaps:

  • Rural non-metropolitan areas (~7% of U.S. population)
  • Alaska and Hawaii covered separately (not in national index)

Temporal Gaps:

  • No gaps in monthly series since 1947
  • Earlier data (1913-1946) less frequent or different methodology

Population Exclusions:

  • Rural populations
  • Military personnel on base
  • Institutionalized populations (prisons, nursing homes)

Variable Gaps:

  • No individual consumption pattern adjustments (average consumer only)
  • No wealth or asset price changes (home prices, stocks)
  • Services quality changes challenging to capture

Methodological Limitations

Sampling Limitations:

  • Item substitution when products discontinued (introduces quality adjustment challenges)
  • New products introduced with lag (e.g., smartphones took years to enter basket)

Measurement Limitations:

  • Quality improvements difficult to separate from price increases (hedonic quality adjustment imperfect)
  • Online prices increasingly important; methodology adapting
  • Shrinkflation (smaller package size for same price) challenging to capture

Processing Limitations:

  • Seasonal adjustment can mask underlying trends
  • Base period changes (1982-1984 = 100) require careful interpretation for long-term comparisons

Comparability Limitations

Cross-national Comparability:

  • Different countries use different CPI methodologies
  • Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) used for international comparisons

Temporal Comparability:

  • Methodology improvements over time (geometric mean, hedonic quality, internet prices)
  • Base period re-anchored periodically (does not affect inflation rates, but index levels)

Sub-group Comparability:

  • No income-specific CPIs (average consumer only)
  • Metropolitan area CPIs exist but smaller samples (wider confidence intervals)

Usage Caveats

Inappropriate Uses:

  1. DO NOT use for individual consumption - reflects average urban consumer, not personal basket
  2. DO NOT use as cost-of-living index - does not fully account for substitution or quality
  3. DO NOT compare month-to-month without considering seasonal patterns and noise
  4. DO NOT use for asset prices - excludes home prices, stocks, bonds (use Case-Shiller, S&P500)

Ecological Fallacy Risks:

  • National CPI does not reflect individual cities (use metropolitan CPIs)
  • Average CPI does not reflect low-income or high-income consumption patterns

Correlation vs. Causation:

  • CPI measures price changes, not causes of inflation
  • Appropriate for descriptive analysis, not causal inference without economic models

Recommended Use Cases

Ideal Applications

Research Questions Well-Suited:

  1. "How has U.S. purchasing power changed over the past 50 years?"
  2. "What is the real (inflation-adjusted) return on investment?"
  3. "How does wage growth compare to inflation?"
  4. "What is the Federal Reserve's progress toward 2% inflation target?"

Analysis Types Supported:

  • Descriptive statistics (inflation rates over time)
  • Trend analysis (long-term inflation patterns)
  • Real value adjustments (converting nominal to real dollars)
  • Policy evaluation (Federal Reserve inflation targeting)

Appropriate Contexts

Geographic Contexts:

  • U.S. national analysis
  • Cross-country comparisons (with Harmonized Indices or equivalent)

Temporal Contexts:

  • Long-term trends (1947-present)
  • Historical research (especially post-WWII era)
  • Month-to-month changes (with seasonal adjustment consideration)

Subject Contexts:

  • Purchasing power analysis
  • Real wage calculations
  • Retirement planning (Social Security COLA)
  • Economic policy evaluation

Use Warnings

Avoid Using This Source For:

  1. Individual consumption patterns → Use personal budget tracking
  2. Real estate price inflation → Use Case-Shiller Home Price Index
  3. Asset price changes → Use stock indices, bond yields
  4. Immediate/real-time inflation → Use high-frequency alternative data (Billion Prices Project)
  5. Rural cost of living → No rural CPI available

Recommended Alternatives For:

  • Federal Reserve policy → PCE Price Index (Fed's preferred measure)
  • Producer/wholesale prices → Producer Price Index (PPI)
  • Import/export prices → Import/Export Price Indices
  • Wage earner specific → CPI-W (Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers)

Citation

Preferred Citation Format

APA 7th: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2025). Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average [CPIAUCSL]. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Retrieved October 25, 2025, from https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL

Chicago 17th: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average (CPIAUCSL)." Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED. Accessed October 25, 2025. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL.

MLA 9th: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average. FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2025, fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL.

Vancouver: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average (CPIAUCSL) [Internet]. St. Louis: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED; 2025 [cited 2025 Oct 25]. Available from: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL

BibTeX:

@misc{bls_cpi_2025,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average (CPIAUCSL)},
  year = {2025},
  publisher = {Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED},
  url = {https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL},
  note = {Accessed: 2025-10-25}
}

Data Citation Principles

Following FORCE11 Data Citation Principles:

  • Importance: CPI is citable research output; cite in publications using inflation-adjusted values
  • Credit and Attribution: Citations credit BLS for data collection, FRED for aggregation
  • Evidence: Citations enable readers to verify inflation adjustments
  • Unique Identification: FRED series ID (CPIAUCSL) + access date for exact reproducibility
  • Access: Citation provides direct access method (URL)
  • Persistence: FRED maintains stable URLs; archived through Internet Archive
  • Specificity and Verifiability: Series ID and date range ensure exact reproducibility
  • Interoperability: Citation format compatible with reference managers
  • Flexibility: Adaptable to various research outputs

Version History

Current Version

  • Version: Continuous monthly series
  • Date: 1947-01 to present
  • Changes: Monthly additions; base period 1982-1984 = 100

Previous Versions

  • Base Period Changes: 1967 = 100 (historical), 1982-1984 = 100 (current)

Review Log

Internal Reviews

  • Date: 2025-10-25 | Reviewer: Substrate Data Curation | Status: Approved | Notes: Initial catalog entry; comprehensive evaluation completed

Quality Checks

  • Last Metadata Validation: 2025-10-25
  • Last Authority Verification: 2025-10-25
  • Last Link Check: 2025-10-25
  • Last Access Test: 2025-10-25 (CSV download tested successfully)

Related Resources

Cross-References

Related Substrate Entities:

  • Problems:
    • Inflation volatility
    • Wage erosion
    • Cost-of-living measurement
  • Solutions:
    • Monetary policy frameworks
    • Index-linked financial instruments
    • Real wage adjustments
  • Organizations:
    • Bureau of Labor Statistics
    • Federal Reserve System
    • Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
  • Other Data Sources:
    • DS-00002: U.S. GDP (Real GDP for output measurement)
    • Future: PCE Price Index (Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure)

External Resources:

Additional Documentation

User Guides:

Research Using This Source:

  • Millions of citations in economic research
  • Federal Reserve policy analysis
  • Social Security COLA calculations

Methodology Papers:

  • BLS Handbook of Methods, Chapter 17 (Consumer Price Index)
  • Boskin Commission Report (1996)

Cataloger Notes

Internal Notes:

  • Excellent source; highest authority; essential for Substrate economic domain
  • CSV download simple and reliable
  • Consider adding PCE Price Index as complement (Federal Reserve's preferred measure)
  • CPI-W (wage earners) available as alternative series if needed

To Do:

  • Add related organizations (BLS, Federal Reserve)
  • Cross-reference with relevant Problems and Solutions
  • Consider adding metropolitan area CPIs for geographic granularity

Questions for Review:

  • Should we catalog PCE Price Index separately?
  • How to handle base period changes in long-term analysis documentation?

END OF SOURCE RECORD

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