Links

Inflation Data

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the most widely reported US price index. The headline number is used to make cost of living adjustments for Social Security and other programs. Core CPI strips out the volatile energy component and the food component, which is useful for measuring longer term underlying inflation.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI page is here.

FRED reports headline CPI and core CPI generally a day after the BLS release.

The Federal Reserve’s preferred price index is the PCE or the Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index, for various technical reasons.

PCE data is released by the federal government’s Bureau of Economic Analysis: their PCE webpage is here.

Similar to CPI, FRED reports headline PCE and core PCE generally a day after the BEA release.

 

Inflation Data Release Calendar

The CPI release calendar is here. Data is generally published at 8:30 AM ET on the second week of the month, usually Wednesday but sometimes Tuesday or Thursday (and sometimes on the third week).

PCE data is published by the BEA: the release schedule can be found by entering “Personal Income and Outlays” in the search box on this page. Data is generally released on the last Friday of the month, though again this varies.

For both the CPI and PCE, the reference month is the month preceding the month of publication. So PCE data comes in with a substantial delay.

 

Other Price and Inflation Links

To be contin…

 

Last updated on January 21, 2025