Consumer Price Index

Economy
Prices
Headline and core CPI, sub-category breakdowns, and comparisons to PCE — pulled directly from FRED.
Published

May 4, 2026

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) tracks price changes across a basket of goods and services that urban consumers actually buy. It’s the most widely-cited inflation gauge in the U.S. and feeds into everything from Social Security cost-of-living adjustments to TIPS yields. The charts below cover headline CPI, core CPI, sub-category breakdowns (housing, energy, food, transportation, travel), and a side-by-side comparison with PCE — all refreshed directly from FRED on each build.



General CPI

Headline CPI

  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in U.S. City Average, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.



CPI Headline: Month-Over-Month

  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in U.S. City Average, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.



Comparing CPI & PCE

  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in U.S. City Average, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.



CPI Historical

  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in U.S. City Average, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.



CPI Sub-Categories

By Category

  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in U.S. City Average, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.



Select CPI Sub-Categories

  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in U.S. City Average, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.



CPI Housing

  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in U.S. City Average, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.


CPI Energy


  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in U.S. City Average, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.


CPI Transportation


  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in U.S. City Average, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.


CPI Food


  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in U.S. City Average, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.


CPI Travel


  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in U.S. City Average, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Egg Prices


  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Average Price: Eggs, Grade A, Large (Cost per Dozen) in U.S. City Average.
  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Producer Price Index by Commodity: Farm Products: Chicken Eggs,
  • Retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.



Pro Tips

  • Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, Seasonally Adjusted – Measures inflation by tracking the prices urban consumers pay for everyday goods and services.
  • Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index – A broader inflation measure that reflects changes in consumer spending habits and is favored by the Federal Reserve.
  • Producer Price Index for All Commodities – Measures price changes from the producer’s perspective, indicating inflation before costs reach consumers.


  • CPI: All Items Less Shelter – Measures inflation for everything except housing costs, showing price changes for things like food, gas, and clothing without rent or homeownership expenses.
  • CPI: All Items Less Food & Energy, Seasonally Adjusted – Tracks inflation but excludes food and energy, which are more volatile, giving a smoother inflation trend.
  • CPIAUCSL CPI: All Items, Seasonally Adjusted – The broadest CPI measure, covering all consumer goods and services, adjusted to remove seasonal effects like holiday shopping spikes.






Report Refreshed on: 2026-05-04