Consumer Price Index (CPI)

(1) An index published by the U.S. Department of Labor?s Bureau of Labor Statistics used to measure cost of living increases. There are two types of consumer price indexes that are frequently used in lease terms. One is the CPI-W (Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers Index), which is based on expenditures of families who derive at least half of their income from clerical or wage occupations. The other is the CPI-U (All-Urban Consumers Index), which is based on three-quarters of the U.S. population. Both indexes measure changes in the price of a hypothetical market basket of goods and services and are published monthly. The U.S. City Average is a national average that is also published monthly. (2) An index published by Statistics Canada to measure cost of living increases. Two types of the bureau?s indexes are frequently used in lease terms: the CPI-W (Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers Index), and the CPI-U (All-Urban Consumers Index).