Consumer Price Index Information for May, 2008

The index for housing rose 0.5 percent in May. The index for shelter increased 0.2 percent, following a 0.1 percent rise in April. Within shelter, the indexes for rent and owners' equivalent rent increased 0.2 and 0.1 percent, respectively. The index for lodging away from home, which had declined in each of the preceding three months, increased 1.3 percent in May. (Prior to seasonal adjustment, charges for lodging away from home declined 0.5 percent in May.)

The index for household energy registered its fourth consecutive large increase--up 2.8 percent in May. The index for fuel oil rose 10.4 percent and was 64.0 percent higher than in May 2007. The indexes for natural gas and for electricity rose 5.6 and 0.9 percent, respectively. During the last 12 months charges for
natural gas and for electricity increased 16.5 and 5.8 percent,
respectively. The index for household furnishings and operations, which declined 0.1 percent in April, increased 0.2 percent in May.

What is the Consumer Price Index? "Brief Explanation of the CPI

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time of goods and services purchased by households. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population groups:

(1) the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which covers households of wage earners and clerical workers that comprise approximately 32 percent of the total population and (2) the CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the Chained CPI for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI- U), which cover approximately 87 percent of the total population and include in addition to wage earners and clerical worker households, groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self- employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, and retirees and others not in the labor force."

NOTE: This data and definition are taken directly from the site of the website of the Brief Explanation of the CPI

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in prices over time of goods and services purchased by households. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population groups:

(1) the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which covers households of wage earners and clerical workers that comprise approximately 32 percent of the total population and

(2) the CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) and the Chained CPI for All Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U), which cover approximately 87 percent of the total population and
include in addition to wage earners and clerical worker households, groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, and retirees and others not in the labor force.