The Consumer Price Index is used to calculate inflation, or the change in price of a basket of goods and services, as it impacts consumers; whereas, the Producer Price Index measures changes in selling prices, thereby expressing price changes from the perspective of the seller who produces a particular commodity.
A slide presentation updated with July 2018 data shows Midwest inflation rates decreased for large and small urban metro areas.
The Producer Price Index data shows that prices in the United States have increased from July 2017 to July 2018 for aircraft (1.4 percent) and petroleum (69.1 percent). During that same time period, the index decreased for slaughter livestock (-7.6 percent), sorghum (-8.8 percent), wheat (-11.9 percent), and natural gas (-6.7 percent).
