consumer price index

noun

: an index measuring the change in the cost of typical wage-earner purchases of goods and services expressed as a percentage of the cost of these same goods and services in some base period

called also cost-of-living index

Examples of consumer price index in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The consumer price index climbed to 2.6% last month since the same time last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. —Rob Wile, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2024

The consumer price index, another key inflation measure, was up 2.4% annually in September, according to the BLS — a 0.1 percentage point slowdown from August and the smallest annual reading since February 2021. —Rocio Fabbro, Quartz, 7 Nov. 2024

The consumer price index was up 2.4% in September year-over-year. —Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, 6 Nov. 2024

Last month, the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) topped expectations with the core index that excludes food and energy rising 0.3% and ending a run of lower readings. —Billy Bambrough, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1945, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

consumer price index

noun

consumer price in·​dex

: an index measuring the change in the cost of typical wage-earner purchases of goods and services in some base period

called also cost-of-living index