Glossary
CPI (Consumer Price Index)
The US consumer price index, published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It measures the average change in prices paid by urban consumers.
The CPI (Consumer Price Index) is published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. It measures the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a basket of goods and services. The monthly release, at 8:30 New York time, reports the change on the month and over 12 months, and a core index that excludes food and energy.
Example
The August 2026 CPI was released on 11 September 2026. The all-items index rose 0.4% on the month, seasonally adjusted, and 3.4% over 12 months; the index excluding food and energy rose 0.3% on the month. A monthly rise of 0.4% is 40 bp, twice the 0.2% that would be in line with 2.4% a year.
Why it matters
Inflation data shape expectations for Federal Reserve policy, so CPI often moves gold, US indices and the dollar within seconds. Spreads widen and slippage is common in the first minutes. In our lab, CPI was one of three releases, with FOMC and NFP, after which gold's early direction tended to continue.