Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics  

Release: Consumer Price Index  

Units:  Index 1982-1984=100, Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency:  Monthly

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items (CPIAUCSL) is a price index of a basket of goods and services paid by urban consumers. Percent changes in the price index measure the inflation rate between any two time periods. The most common inflation metric is the percent change from one year ago. It can also represent the buying habits of urban consumers. This particular index includes roughly 88 percent of the total population, accounting for wage earners, clerical workers, technical workers, self-employed, short-term workers, unemployed, retirees, and those not in the labor force.

The CPIs are based on prices for food, clothing, shelter, and fuels; transportation fares; service fees (e.g., water and sewer service); and sales taxes. Prices are collected monthly from about 4,000 housing units and approximately 26,000 retail establishments across 87 urban areas. To calculate the index, price changes are averaged with weights representing their importance in the spending of the particular group. The index measures price changes (as a percent change) from a predetermined reference date. In addition to the original unadjusted index distributed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also releases a seasonally adjusted index. The unadjusted series reflects all factors that may influence a change in prices. However, it can be very useful to look at the seasonally adjusted CPI, which removes the effects of seasonal changes, such as weather, school year, production cycles, and holidays.

The CPI can be used to recognize periods of inflation and deflation. Significant increases in the CPI within a short time frame might indicate a period of inflation, and significant decreases in CPI within a short time frame might indicate a period of deflation. However, because the CPI includes volatile food and oil prices, it might not be a reliable measure of inflationary and deflationary periods. For a more accurate detection, the core CPI (CPILFESL) is often used. When using the CPI, please note that it is not applicable to all consumers and should not be used to determine relative living costs. Additionally, the CPI is a statistical measure vulnerable to sampling error since it is based on a sample of prices and not the complete average.

For more information on the consumer price indexes, see:
Bureau of Economic Analysis. "CPI Detailed Report." 2013.
Handbook of Methods
Understanding the CPI: Frequently Asked Questions

Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (US)  

Release: Z.1 Financial Accounts of the United States  

Units:  Billions of Dollars, Not Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency:  Quarterly, End of Period

Source ID: FL152090005.Q

For more information about the Flow of Funds tables, see the Financial Accounts Guide.

With each quarterly release, the source may make major data and structural revisions to the series and tables. These changes are available in the Release Highlights.

In the Financial Accounts, the source identifies each series by a string of patterned letters and numbers. For a detailed description, including how this series is constructed, see the series analyzer provided by the source.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau  

Release: Families and Living Arrangements  

Units:  Thousands, Not Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency:  Annual

Household is an occupied housing unit.
Householder is a person in whose name the housing unit is rented or owned. This person must be at least 15 years old.
Family household is a household in which there is at least 1 person present who is related to the householder by birth, marriage or adoption.
Family is used to refer to a family household. In general, family consists of those related to each other by birth, marriage or adoption.

This data uses the householder's person weight to describe characteristics of people living in households. As a result, estimates of the number of households do not match estimates of housing units from the Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS). The HVS is weighted to housing units, rather than the population, in order to more accurately estimate the number of occupied and vacant housing units. For more information about the source and accuracy statement of the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) of the Current Population Survey (CPS) see the technical documentation accessible at: http://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/technical-documentation/complete.html