Economy: Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August 2019

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August 2019

Earlier this morning, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August 2019:

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Predicted: +0.1%
Actual: +0.1%

Change From 12 Months Previous: +1.7%

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Below is the CPI when food and energy are removed, also known as core CPI:

Predicted: +0.2%
Actual: +0.3%

Change From 12 Months Previous: +2.4%

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The above, yellow-highlighted figures 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 "predicted" figure is what economists were expecting, while the "actual" is the true or real figure.

General categories that constitute the CPI are:

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

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From Today's Report:

"...Increases in the indexes for shelter and medical care were the major factors in the seasonally adjusted all items monthly increase, outweighing a decline in the energy index. The energy index fell 1.9 percent in August as the gasoline index declined 3.5 percent. The food index was unchanged for the third month in a row.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.3 percent in August, the same increase as in June and July. Along with the indexes for medical care and shelter, the indexes for recreation, used cars and trucks, and airline fares were among the indexes that increased in August. The indexes for new vehicles and household furnishings and operations declined over the month..."

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