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Consumer Price Index
Updated 7/1/2009
Key economic statistics
What it means: Published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index measures the change in prices paid by consumers for a representative group of products and services.
How it's used: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures inflation at the consumer level. The CPI is used as an economy-wide measure of inflation and is used to determine annual cost of living adjustments to Social Security payments and employee paychecks.
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