Consumer Price Index

Consumer Price Index (CPI), statistical measurement of goods and services bought by most people in the United States. Prepared by the U.S. government's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CPI compares current costs of goods and services with past costs. Separate CPIs are published in order to represent a selection of metropolitan areas, groups of cities, and regions of the United States. The CPI is a measure of inflation and cost of living and is used as a yardstick for revising salaries, wages, social benefits, and other payments that need to keep pace with changing prices.