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COMPARISON OF BLS PRICE AND SPENDING MEASURES

Consumer Price Index (CPI) Producer Price Index (PPI) Import and Export Price 

Indexes (MXP)

Consumer Expenditure Surveys

(CE)

Concept /

Objective

Measures the average 

change over time in the 

prices paid by urban 

consumers for a market 

basket of consumer goods 

and services. Underlying 

concept is a cost-of-living 

framework. Index series 

are published for the CPIU (All urban consumers), 

CPI-W (Urban wage 

earners and clerical 

workers), and the chained 

CPI-U.

Measures the average 

change in selling prices 

producers and service 

providers receive for their 

output.

Export price indexes 

measure the average 

change over time of 

transaction prices paid by 

non-U.S. residents for 

goods and services 

provided by U.S. residents. 

Import price indexes 

measure the average 

change over time of 

transaction prices paid by 

U.S. residents for goods 

and services provided by 

non-U.S. residents. 

Measures the average 

expenditures by the total US 

civilian non-institutionalized 

population, along with income 

and other related demographic 

details.

Product 

Coverage /

Scope

Any item purchased for 

consumption by 

consumers.

Domestic producers from 

the mining, 

manufacturing, 

agriculture, forestry, 

services, and 

construction sectors of 

the U.S. economy.

Most merchandise goods 

exported from or imported 

into the U.S. as well as 

selected services items. 

Military goods, works of art, 

used items, charity 

donations, railroad 

equipment, rebuilt and 

repaired items, items 

leased for less than a year, 

and custom-made capital 

equipment are excluded.

Every item or service 

purchased by consumers, plus 

some related consumption 

information. Investments and 

business expenses are 

excluded, auto purchase is net 

after trade-in allowance, health 

costs and car repairs are net 

after insurance 

reimbursements.
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Consumer Price Index (CPI) Producer Price Index (PPI) Import and Export Price 

Indexes (MXP)

Consumer Expenditure Surveys

(CE)

Headline 

measure 

(focus of news 

release)

CPI-U, All items PPI for Final Demand U.S. All imports; U.S. All 

Exports

Average 12-month 

expenditures and income per 

consumer unit

Primary Uses Used to compute cost-ofliving adjustments for 

Social Security and other 

government payments. 

Used to adjust tax 

brackets and other tax 

parameters, and as a 

deflator of other economic 

time series. Used 

privately, either in 

contracts or informally, to 

adjust rents, wages, and 

other payments for 

changes in the cost-ofliving. 

PPI data for capital 

equipment are used by 

the U.S. Department of 

Commerce to calculate 

the gross domestic 

product (GDP) deflator 

and many of its 

components. Private 

firms use PPI data to 

assist their operations in 

a variety of ways, in 

addition to using the data 

for general economic

analysis or as a deflator 

of some other quantity. 

PPIs frequently are cited 

for price escalation 

purposes in long-term 

sales or purchase 

contracts as a means of 

protecting both the buyer 

and the seller from 

unanticipated surges or 

drops in prices.

Conversion of U.S. trade 

figures from current dollars 

to constant dollars in U.S. 

trade statistics including the 

Bureau of Economic 

Analysis’ Quarterly Gross 

Domestic Product and the 

Census Bureau’s monthly 

U.S. trade statistics; 

Assessing the impact of 

international trade on 

domestic inflation and the 

competitive position of the 

U.S. 

Regularly revise the Consumer 

Price Index market basket of 

goods and services and their 

relative importance. Also used 

by economic policymakers 

examining the impact of policy 

changes on economic groups, 

by the Census Bureau as the 

source of thresholds for the 

Supplemental Poverty 

Measure, by businesses and 

academic researchers 

studying consumers' spending 

habits and trends, by the 

Defense Department for living 

adjustments, the Commerce 

Department on the cost of 

raising children, by other 

Federal agencies to track 

spending by demographics.

Revision 

Policy

CPI-U and CPI-W indexes 

are not revised; Chained 

CPI-U indexes are revised 

when updated 

Producer Price Indexes 

are revised up to 4 

months after they are 

initially published, as 

Import and export price 

indexes are revised up to 3 

months after they are 

initially published, as more 

Estimates are not revised.
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Consumer Price Index (CPI) Producer Price Index (PPI) Import and Export Price 

Indexes (MXP)

Consumer Expenditure Surveys

(CE)

expenditure data is 

available.

more information 

becomes available.

information becomes 

available.

Production 

Classification 

System(s)

The consumer market 

basket is divided into 8 

major groups and 243

item categories.

The PPI family of indexes 

is divided into several 

major classification 

systems, each with its 

own structure, history, 

and uses. The four most 

important classification 

structures are (1) industry 

(NAICS based), (2) 

commodity (unique to 

PPI), (3) FD–ID (Final 

Demand - Intermediate 

Demand.), and (4) Inputs 

to Industry.

Three classification 

systems are used for 

aggregating merchandise 

goods. The Bureau of 

Economic Analysis (BEA) 

Classification System 

which classifies items by 

end use, the Harmonized 

System which classifies 

items by product type, and 

NAICS which classifies 

items by industry. Services 

indexes adhere to the BEA 

balance of payments 

definition.

Universal Classification Code 

(UCC)

Source of 

Weighting 

Item weights: calculated 

from the CE interview and 

diary surveys.

Aggregation weights: 

Consumer Expenditure 

Survey (CE)

Item weights: weights at 

the item level are 

calculated based on a 

sample unit’s value of 

shipments. 

Aggregation weights: 

Census Bureau 

economic census data 

and BEA input/output 

tables.

Item weights: weights are 

based on the company’s 

probability weight from 

sampling. 

Aggregation weights: U.S. 

Census Bureau figures for 

exports and imports.

US Census Bureau population 

figures from the Current 

Population Survey (CPS.) The 

basic unit is the Consumer 

Unit, any single or multiple 

person household who are 

related by blood, marriage, 

adoption, or other legal 

arrangements; or share living 

expenses.
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Consumer Price Index (CPI) Producer Price Index (PPI) Import and Export Price 

Indexes (MXP)

Consumer Expenditure Surveys

(CE)

Current 

aggregation 

weighting 

base

2021 2017 2021 trade weights Concurrent monthly CPS 

population counts are 

aggregated per collection 

quarter.

Frequency of 

Weight 

Updates

Every year with a 2 year 

lag in weights.

Census weights, every 5 

years; BEA weights, less 

frequently.

Every year with a 2 year 

lag in weights.

Monthly population figures are 

updated quarterly to current 

US population

Sample 

Sizes/month

BLS collects about 

103,500 consumer prices 

from about 23,000 places 

of business each month, 

as well as approximately 

8,400 rents.

BLS collects about 

60,000 prices from about 

11,000 producers.

BLS collects about 17,000 

prices from a sample of 

about 2,250 importers and 

exporters each month.

There are two surveys with two 

samples, the Quarterly 

Interview Survey and the Diary 

Survey. The U.S. Census 

Bureau collects about 5,000 

household Interviews each 

quarter, and another 12,500 

weekly Diaries per year (two 

sets of 1-week diaries from 

6,250 households.)

Mode of Data 

Collection

Initiation and Repricing: 

Personal visit, phone and 

internet. 

Initiation: Personal visit, 

Phone and Video

Repricing: Virtually all 

prices are collected 

through web-repricing.

Initiation: Personal visit,

Phone and Video

Repricing: Virtually all 

prices are collected through 

web-repricing.

First Contact: Primary mode 

for the Interview Survey is by 

phone using a Computer 

Assisted Personal Interview 

(CAPI) instrument. Diary 

Survey is primarily collected 

using a paper diary. One-third 

is collected using a new online

diary instrument.

Follow-up: Primarily by phone

for the Interview Survey.

Paper diary and/or receipts 

must be picked up by the 
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Consumer Price Index (CPI) Producer Price Index (PPI) Import and Export Price 

Indexes (MXP)

Consumer Expenditure Surveys

(CE)

Census Bureau field 

representative or diary entries 

are submitted online.

Resampling 

Strategy

Roughly 25% of outlet and 

item samples rotated each 

year

The PPI samples three 

times per year; sampling 

approximately 30-40 

industries per sample.

The MXP samples all 

industries within the import 

and export universe once 

per year (alternating).

A household can be in the 

Interview survey for up to four 

interviews each three months 

apart; a Diary household is 

only in for 2 weeks. New 

households are rotated in 

monthly.

Reference 

Period

Monthly Monthly Monthly 12 months of data

Price 

Collection 

Time Frame

Prices are collected 

throughout the month.

PPI requests prices for 

the Tuesday of the week 

of the month that 

includes the 13th. 

Prices are collected as 

close as possible to the first 

day of the month. The 

exception is petroleum 

import prices which are 

collected throughout the 

month.

Expenditures are collected 

throughout the month.

Price 

definition

Retail/transaction price, 

including sales and excise 

taxes.

Net selling prices, 

including discounts and 

surcharges, excluding 

taxes and delivery 

charges.

PPI uses margin prices 

for establishments 

engaged in wholesale 

and retail trade; these 

establishments purchase 

Transaction prices that 

exclude any duty or other 

taxes.

Retail/transaction price at time 

of purchase or obligation, 

including sales and excise 

taxes
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Consumer Price Index (CPI) Producer Price Index (PPI) Import and Export Price 

Indexes (MXP)

Consumer Expenditure Surveys

(CE)

goods primarily for direct 

resale to other 

businesses and 

consumers.

Index 

Calculation

Two-stage calculation 

process. First, price

changes are averaged 

using geometric or 

arithmetic means. At 2nd

stage, for the CPI-U and 

CPI-W, indexes are 

aggregated using a 

modified Laspeyres. For 

the C-CPI-U, indexes are 

aggregated using a 

Tornqvist superlative 

formula. 

Modified Laspeyres at all 

levels of aggregation.

Modified Laspeyres at all 

levels of aggregation.

Dollar amounts are averaged 

using weighted means.

Timing and 

frequency of 

publication

Monthly; 10-14 days after 

the reference month.

Monthly; about two 

weeks after the reference 

month.

Monthly; about two weeks 

after the reference month.

Publication Tables: Once a 

year about 9 months after the 

end of the reference period in 

September. Public use 

microdata: Twice a year with 

two quarters released in AprilMay and remaining quarters 

released in September. 

Standard 

reference 

base

Varies; for many items, 

1982-84=100

Varies: Many commodityoriented PPI series have 

an index base of 1982 = 

100, but many other 

indexes, including most 

FD–ID indexes, began 

after 1982 and have a 

Varies; for many items, 

2000=100. The exceptions 

are indexes that began 

publication after 2000 

which are based to the first 

month of publication.

Nominal dollars for the 

reference year
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Consumer Price Index (CPI) Producer Price Index (PPI) Import and Export Price 

Indexes (MXP)

Consumer Expenditure Surveys

(CE)

base date indicating the 

month and year of their 

introduction.

Web site http://www.bls.gov/cpi/ http://www.bls.gov/ppi/ http://www.bls.gov/mxp/ http://www.bls.gov/cex

Last Update: 8/10/2023