Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December, 2006

Earlier this morning, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December, 2006:

Predicted: +0.5%
Actual: +0.5%

Below is the CPI when food and energy are subtracted from the equation:

Predicted: +0.2%
Actual: +0.2%

The "predicted" figure is what economists and Wall Street forecasters were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

The above numbers represent the seasonally-adjusted, month-to-month change in prices for a specific group of goods and services that consumers buy, and is, therefore, a very important part of the overall inflation picture for the country.

The CPI for December, 2006: 201.8 (the baseline 100 score is pegged to 1982-1984 data. In other words, consumer prices have more than doubled since the early 80's)

General categories that constitute the CPI are:

• Healthcare
• Housing
• Clothing
• Communications
• Education
• Transportation
• Food & Beverages
• Recreation
• Miscellaneous Goods & Services (grooming expenses, etc.)

Click here to view the full Labor Department report.

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