Consumer price index (CPI)
A monthly measure of the average change in prices paid by US urban consumers for a fixed basket of goods and services.
The consumer price index, published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, tracks the change in prices of a fixed basket of goods and services bought by urban consumers. The headline figure includes food and energy, which can be volatile. Each release shows the monthly change and the change over twelve months.
On our site, CPI is shown month over month and year over year, with the consensus forecast beside the actual print. Read the year-over-year figure for the level and the monthly figure for direction.
Traders care because CPI is one of the most market-moving releases. It shapes expectations for Fed policy, and a surprise often moves Treasury yields, the dollar and rate-sensitive stocks within minutes.
Worked example (illustrative numbers, not real data): the index rises from 300.0 to 303.0 in a month, a 1.0 percent monthly increase. Against a consensus of 0.3 percent, that is a 0.7-point upside surprise, which would likely push yields higher.