Center for Inflation Research

The Cleveland Fed is home to the Center for Inflation Research, a leading resource for “all things inflation.” Explore commentary, research, and analysis on inflationary trends from the Center, and find out about upcoming inflation-related events.

Our inflation resources
Inflation indicators and data
Our Center's latest news

Our inflation research

Economic Commentaries About Inflation

Economic Commentaries provide analysis of relevant economic issues and are written for an informed but nonspecialist audience. Browse the Economic Commentaries about inflation written by our economists.

Working Papers About Inflation

Working Papers are preliminary versions of technical papers containing results and discussions of current research. Written for eventual publication in professional economics journals. Browse the Working Papers about inflation written by our economists.

Our Inflation Resources

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About the Center for Inflation Research

The Center for Inflation Research is guided by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and an advisory council consisting of leading experts from the United States and abroad who provide external perspectives and input into the Center's projects and conferences.

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Inflation 101

Here is your guide to understanding inflation. The Cleveland Fed's Center for Inflation Research provides inflation basics and explanations of inflation essentials for you to explore.

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Conferences: Center for Inflation Research

Find information about our dedicated inflation conferences, papers presented at our past conferences, and our sponsorship of conference sessions.

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Measures of Expected Inflation

We explain why expected inflation is important to consumers and the Federal Reserve and how it affects actual inflation. We explain the two basic approaches to measuring them, model-based and survey-based measures.

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Consumer Price Data

We explain how measures of consumer prices are computed and what the differences are between the consumer price index (CPI) and the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index. We explain various measures used to gauge underlying inflation, or the long-term trend in prices, such as medians and other trimmed-mean measures and core measures of inflation.

Inflation Indicators and Data

Median CPI

The median CPI is a measure of inflation computed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. It ranks the components of CPI inflation and picks the one in the middle. Its construction makes it less sensitive to short-lived price fluctuations, thereby better capturing the trend in prices. Released monthly.

Median PCE Inflation

Median PCE inflation is a measure of inflation computed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. It ranks the components of PCE inflation and picks the one in the middle. Its construction makes it less sensitive to short-lived price fluctuations, thereby better capturing the trend in prices. Released monthly.

Inflation Nowcasting

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland provides daily “nowcasts” of inflation for two popular price indexes, the price index for personal consumption expenditures (PCE) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI). These nowcasts give a sense of where inflation is today. Released each business day.

Inflation Expectations

We report average expected inflation rates over the next one through 30 years. Our estimates of expected inflation rates are calculated using a Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland model that combines financial data and survey-based measures. Released monthly.

Survey of Firms' Inflation Expectations

The Survey of Firms’ Inflation Expectations (SoFIE) is a large quarterly representative panel of firms in the manufacturing and services sectors that was created to measure inflation expectations of chief executive officers (CEOs) in the United States. Released quarterly.

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Inflation Charting

Examine and compare the behavior of various measures of total inflation and underlying inflation.