New York State Data Center

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX -ALL URBAN CONSUMERS
UNITED STATES & NEW YORK-NORTHERN N.J.-LONG ISLAND, NY-NJ-CT AREA

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services. The CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) covers approximately 80 percent of the total population. The CPI-U includes in addition to wage earners and clerical workers, groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, retirees, and others not in the labor force. The CPI is used as an indicator of inflation, a deflator of other economic series, and as an escalator for income payments.

METHODOLOGY:
The CPI is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, transportation, medical care and the other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day living. The Index measures price changes from a designated reference date -- 1982-1984=100.  NOTE THAT THE METHODOLOGY WAS REVISED WITH THE JANUARY 1998 DATA RELEASE.

REVISIONS:
Data is received monthly. No revisions are made, although the base year is subject to change over a period of time.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington, DC.

RELEASE DATE: Monthly data, approximately the third week of the month.

CONTACT FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: New York State Data Center - (518) 292-5300.