ABOUT THE DASHBOARD

This dashboard shows the latest changes in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) for various food items. Users can see a snapshot of the latest CPI on a single page. The top left visual shows the latest month CPI for “All items,” “Food,” “Food at home” and “Food away from home.” The other two visuals show the changes in the subcomponents of food at home and food away from home. The dashboard can assist users to quickly get an overview of how CPI is changing for all food categories.

Another unique aspect of this dashboard is the time dimensionality. Users can select the “Month to Month” tab to see how CPI changes for a selected item from one month to the next. Similarly, the “Year to Year” tab shows how CPI changes from one year to the next for an item. Finally, the “Base Period” tab allows users to select a base month-year (any month-year of choice since 2010), and CPI changes will be calculated in comparison to that base month-year. In all three tabs, results are displayed in three parts divided by the “Overall,” “Food” and “Food away from home” categories.

User Experience

Users get a snapshot of one-month percent change, 12-month percent change and base period percent change (where the base period can be adjusted).

VARIABLE DEFINITIONS

Percentage CPI Change: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) percentage change formula is: (New CPI minus Old CPI) divided by Old CPI times 100.

SOURCES

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI data from 2010 to current month-year (subject to CPI data release).

DATA SOURCES

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI data from May 2023 to current month-year (subject to CPI data release and data availability).

DASHBOARD AUTHORS

Annapurni Subramaniam, Joseph Balagtas