Inflation Analysis

This Data-Driven decision aid uses historical U. S. Consumer Price Index data to help users analyse the effects of price inflation on purchasing power. Enter values for the initial year, the comparison year and for a dollar ($) amount in the initial year and then click Calculate. The decision aid displays the CPI Indexes for the initial year and comparison year and the calculated dollar ($) amount for the comparison year. For example, a salary of $47,928.50 today has the purchasing power of a $27,000 salary in 1982. Try various "What If?" analyses.

	Year	Initial Amount	Calculated Amount	CPI Index	Actual or Estimated
Initial Conditions		$
Comparison			$

Note: Estimates for 2000 use the May 2000 data. Estimates for 2001 to 2004 assume a 3.25% growth in CPI.

CPI Index - The CPI represents changes in prices of all goods and services purchased for consumption by urban households. User fees (such as water and sewer service) and sales and excise taxes paid by the consumer are also included. Income taxes and investment items (like stocks, bonds, and life insurance) are not included. CPI is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services. The CPI has a 1982-84 reference base. That is, BLS set the average index level (representing the average price level)--for the 36-month period covering the years 1982, 1983, and 1984--equal to 100. See CPI FAQ.

Data From U.S. Department Of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, D.C. 20212, Consumer Price Index, All Urban Consumers - (CPI-U), U.S. city average. URL ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/cpi/cpiai.txt