Median CPI
- Description: We calculate the median CPI and the 16 percent trimmed-mean CPI based on data released in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly CPI report.
- Median CPI is the one-month inflation rate of the component whose expenditure weight is in the 50th percentile of price changes.
- 16 percent trimmed-mean CPI is a weighted average of one-month inflation rates of components whose expenditure weights fall below the 92nd percentile and above the 8th percentile of price changes.
- Benefits: By omitting outliers (small and large price changes) and focusing on the interior of the distribution of price changes, the median CPI and the 16 percent trimmed-mean CPI can provide a better signal of the underlying inflation trend than either the all-items CPI or the CPI excluding food and energy (also known as core CPI).
Percent change from previous month
| Date | Feb-2022 | Mar-2022 | Apr-2022 | May-2022 | Jun-2022 | Jul-2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median CPI | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| 16% trimmed-mean CPI | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| CPI | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 1 | 1.3 | 0.0 |
| CPI less food and energy | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
Percent change, past 12 months
| Date | Feb-2022 | Mar-2022 | Apr-2022 | May-2022 | Jun-2022 | Jul-2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median CPI | 4.6 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 5.5 | 6 | 6.3 |
| 16% trimmed-mean CPI | 5.7 | 6.1 | 6.2 | 6.5 | 6.9 | 7 |
| CPI | 7.9 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 9.1 | 8.5 |
| CPI less food and energy | 6.4 | 6.5 | 6.2 | 6 | 5.9 | 5.9 |
| Cleveland Fed median CPI | mcpi_revised.csv | |
|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Fed 16% trimmed-mean CPI | trim_revised.csv | |
| CPI for all urban consumers (CPI-U) | cpi.csv | |
| CPI for all items less food and energy | core.csv | |
| Zipped data files | All median CPI files | US Inflation dataset |