Consumer Price Index (CPI)
Latest data: August 1, 2026 · Updated automatically from official sources
The Consumer Price Index measures the average change over time in the prices urban consumers pay for a market basket of goods and services. It is the most widely cited inflation statistic in the United States. Core CPI strips out food and energy, which swing with weather and geopolitics more than with underlying demand — so economists watch core for the trend, even though households feel the headline number at the gas pump and grocery store.
Latest readings
- Headline CPI was up 3.4% year over year in August 2026, compared with 3.3% in the prior period and 2.9% a year earlier.
- Core CPI was up 2.5% year over year in August 2026, compared with 2.5% in the prior period and 3.1% a year earlier — the lowest since March 2021.
- Shelter was up 3.0% year over year in August 2026, compared with 3.2% in the prior period and 3.6% a year earlier.
- Energy was up 16.1% year over year in August 2026, compared with 14.5% in the prior period and 0.4% a year earlier.
- Food was up 2.6% year over year in August 2026, compared with 2.9% in the prior period and 3.2% a year earlier.
- Services ex-energy was up 3.0% year over year in August 2026, compared with 3.0% in the prior period and 3.6% a year earlier.
Headline & core CPI
Food, energy & shelter
Services inflation
The CPI index level
Recent readings
| Period | Headline CPI (YoY) | Change | Core CPI (YoY) |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | 3.4% | +0.05 pp | 2.5% |
| July 2026 | 3.3% | -0.16 pp | 2.5% |
| June 2026 | 3.5% | -0.71 pp | 2.6% |
| May 2026 | 4.2% | +0.39 pp | 2.8% |
| April 2026 | 3.8% | +0.49 pp | 2.7% |
| March 2026 | 3.3% | +0.86 pp | 2.6% |
| February 2026 | 2.4% | +0.04 pp | 2.5% |
| January 2026 | 2.4% | -0.26 pp | 2.5% |
| December 2025 | 2.7% | -0.05 pp | 2.7% |
| November 2025 | 2.7% | -0.32 pp | 2.6% |
| September 2025 | 3.0% | +0.08 pp | 3.0% |
| August 2025 | 2.9% | +0.20 pp | 3.1% |
| July 2025 | 2.7% | — | 3.1% |
Key statistics
| Indicator | Latest | Year ago | 5-yr avg | Long-run avg | Record high | Record low | Data since |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headline CPI (YoY) | 3.4% | 2.9% | 4.5% | 3.5% | 14.6% (Mar 1980) | -3.0% (Aug 1949) | 1948 |
| Core CPI (YoY) | 2.5% | 3.1% | 4.1% | 3.7% | 13.6% (Jun 1980) | 0.6% (Oct 2010) | 1958 |
| Shelter (YoY) | 3.0% | 3.6% | 5.1% | 4.2% | 21.0% (Jun 1980) | -0.7% (Apr 2010) | 1954 |
| Energy (YoY) | 16.1% | 0.4% | 7.9% | 4.5% | 47.2% (Mar 1980) | -27.8% (Jul 2009) | 1958 |
| Food (YoY) | 2.6% | 3.2% | 5.0% | 3.5% | 20.2% (Feb 1974) | -7.1% (Jul 1949) | 1948 |
| Services ex-energy (YoY) | 3.0% | 3.6% | 4.7% | 4.8% | 18.2% (Jun 1980) | 0.8% (Oct 2010) | 1968 |
What the CPI measures
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) builds the CPI from tens of thousands of price quotes collected every month across U.S. cities, covering everything from rent and groceries to airfares, car insurance and medical care. The headline series used on this page — CPI-U, for all urban consumers — represents the spending patterns of roughly 93% of the U.S. population.
Each item is weighted by its share of consumer spending. Shelter (rent and the estimated rental value of owner-occupied homes) is the single largest category, at roughly a third of the index, which is why housing costs have such a large influence on CPI inflation.
How to read the components
- Energy — gasoline, fuel oil, electricity and utility gas. The most volatile component; it can swing headline CPI by several tenths in a single month.
- Food — groceries and restaurant meals. Moves with crop prices, transport costs and wages in food service.
- Shelter — slow-moving because leases reset only once a year, so shelter inflation tends to lag market rents by many months.
- Services less energy — medical care, insurance, transportation services, recreation and more. Heavily influenced by wages, this is often called the “sticky” part of inflation because it is slow to cool once it heats up.
Release schedule and revisions
BLS publishes CPI monthly, typically in the second week of the following month. Unadjusted CPI figures are not revised after release, but seasonally adjusted figures are recalculated each February for the previous five years. econHQ uses the seasonally adjusted series for charts and converts index levels into year-over-year percent changes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between headline and core CPI?
Headline CPI includes every item in the basket. Core CPI excludes food and energy prices because they are volatile and often driven by temporary supply shocks, which makes core a better guide to the underlying inflation trend.
Why does shelter inflation lag the housing market?
CPI measures rents that tenants are actually paying, and most leases renew only once a year. Changes in market rents for new leases therefore take many months to work through the full stock of rental housing.
Is CPI used to adjust Social Security?
Yes. Social Security cost-of-living adjustments are based on a related index, the CPI-W (urban wage earners and clerical workers), measured from the third quarter of one year to the third quarter of the next.
Related data
Data are retrieved automatically from the original statistical agencies (via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED database) and may be revised by the source. Year-over-year changes are calculated by econHQ. See About & methodology for details.