Our Inflation Resources
About the Center for Inflation Research
The Center for Inflation Research is guided by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and an advisory council consisting of leading experts from the United States and abroad who provide external perspectives and input into the Center's projects and conferences.
Inflation 101
Get technical or just get started with inflation fundamentals. Learn what inflation means, how it's measured, the Fed’s role, and other key concepts such as price indexes, hyperinflation, trend and underlying inflation, and measures of inflation including CPI and PCE.
Conferences: Center for Inflation Research
Find information about our dedicated inflation conferences, papers presented at our past conferences, and our sponsorship of conference sessions.
Measures of Expected Inflation
We explain why expected inflation is important to consumers and the Federal Reserve and how it affects actual inflation. We explain the two basic approaches to measuring them, model-based and survey-based measures.
Consumer Price Data
We explain how measures of consumer prices are computed and what the differences are between the consumer price index (CPI) and the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index. We explain various measures used to gauge underlying inflation, or the long-term trend in prices, such as medians and other trimmed-mean measures and core measures of inflation.
Inflation Indicators and Data
Median CPI
The median CPI is a measure of inflation computed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. It ranks the components of CPI inflation and picks the one in the middle. Its construction makes it less sensitive to short-lived price fluctuations, thereby better capturing the trend in prices. Released monthly.
Median PCE Inflation
Median PCE inflation is a measure of inflation computed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. It ranks the components of PCE inflation and picks the one in the middle. Its construction makes it less sensitive to short-lived price fluctuations, thereby better capturing the trend in prices. Released monthly.
Inflation Nowcasting
The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland provides daily “nowcasts” of inflation for two popular price indexes, the price index for personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI). These nowcasts give a sense of where inflation is today. Released each business day.
Inflation Expectations
We report average expected inflation rates over the next one through 30 years. Our estimates of expected inflation rates are calculated using a Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland model that combines financial data and survey-based measures. Released monthly.
Inflation Charting
Examine and compare the behavior of various measures of total inflation and underlying inflation.
