Charting the Consumer Price Index since Oct. 1999
On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) decreased 1.0 percent in October following very little change in September and August, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The large October decline was the largest one-month decrease since publication of seasonally adjusted changes began in February 1947.
The energy index fell 8.6 percent in October following declines of 1.9 percent in September and 3.1 percent in August. Motor fuel prices continued to decline in October, with the gasoline index falling 14.2 percent. Despite the decline, gasoline prices remain 12.0 percent above their October 2007 level.
The food index increased 0.3 percent in October, a smaller advance than the average monthly increase of 0.7 percent during the June through September period. Compared with a year earlier, the food index was up 6.3 percent.
The index for all items less food and energy turned down in October, declining 0.1 percent to a level 2.2 percent above October 2007.
For the 12 months ended in September 2008, the CPI-U rose 3.7 percent, as shown in the chart.
This data is from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Consumer Price Index: October 2008," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 08-1713.