About cpichart.com.

Mission

The CPI is one of the most important economic data points in the world, and one of the most poorly explained. Coverage tends to come in two flavors: a one-line wire-service headline that misses the substance, or a trader-focused take that assumes the reader already knows the framework. We aim for a third path — accurate, contextual, methodologically careful, and accessible.

Every page on this site is designed to answer one of three questions: What is the latest data? What does it mean? How does it apply to my situation? The first question is answered with live charts and snapshots; the second with editorial analysis grounded in actual BLS methodology; the third with free tools — inflation calculator, COLA calculator, purchasing-power visualizer, and others.

Data sources

All published numerical data on cpichart.com traces back to one of four primary sources:

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) — the source for CPI, PPI, and labor-market data. Direct via bls.gov.
• Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) — the source for PCE inflation, GDP, and personal income data.
• Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) — the St. Louis Fed's data repository, used as a secondary source for historical series and for FRED-specific series not available directly from BLS.
• TradingView — the source for our live charts and ticker tape. TradingView's economic data feed routes through the same underlying official sources.

We do not republish data from third-party financial-media rewrites. When a number appears on the site, it can be traced to one of the official sources above.

Editorial standards

The site holds itself to a few rules we think readers should expect from any data-oriented publication:

• Sourcing is explicit. Charts cite the underlying series. Statistics cite the agency and release.
• Methodology is named. When a number depends on a specific definition — CPI-U vs CPI-W vs C-CPI-U, headline vs core, seasonal vs not — we say which one.
• Corrections are visible. When something is wrong, it gets corrected with a note, not silently edited.
• Editorial is separate from advertising. Display ads are clearly marked. No sponsored content runs in editorial slots.
• Nothing on the site is investment advice. See the disclaimer.

Methodology disclosure

For pages that present derived calculations (calculators, the historical archive, the global dashboard), the underlying methodology is shown on the page. The inflation calculator uses CPI-U annual averages applied as a ratio. The COLA calculator uses the actual annual COLA rates published by the Social Security Administration. The rent inflation tracker compares user-supplied figures to the BLS rent of primary residence index (CUUR0000SEHA). All series cited are linkable to the original source.

Who runs the site

cpichart.com is an independent publication. We're an editorial team focused on economic data — most of our background is in financial journalism and economic research. We're not affiliated with the BLS, the Federal Reserve, any commercial bank, or any political organization. For specific inquiries, see the contact page.

How we make money

The site is supported entirely by display advertising in clearly marked ad slots. We don't run sponsored content. We don't sell user data. We don't have paywalls or affiliate links inside editorial. The economics of an independent specialist site are tight; advertising support keeps the site free for readers.

Privacy & legal

See our privacy policy for what data the site collects and how it's used, the terms of service for the user agreement, and the financial disclaimer for what the site is not.

Feedback

If you spot an error, have a suggestion, or want to flag a methodology question, we want to hear about it. The contact page has a form. Press inquiries can use the same channel.