Identify the document you are reading
BLS defines CPI as a measure of average price changes for a representative basket of consumer goods and services. Its documentation distinguishes index levels, monthly changes and twelve-month changes, as well as seasonally adjusted and unadjusted series. Read the complete series label before summarising a figure.
Include the country, institution, reference period and publication date in your sheet. The month in the title need not be the month in which you read it. Identifying that distinction prevents an old report from being presented as a new observation.
Do not mix measures in a comparison
An invented exercise might compare two monthly changes in the same series. Do not substitute an annual change from another series merely because its number looks similar. Hold the definition, adjustment and period constant, and explain any change before interpreting the difference.
For a component exercise, ask a specific question: which categories explain the change in the chosen document? Find the table that can answer it and record its units. Do not attribute a contribution to a category simply because it appeared prominently in a headline.
Fact, expectation and observation
The published figure, a prior forecast and an asset price move are three different records. Each requires a source and date. Without the forecast you can study the release but cannot calculate a verified surprise. Without the chart you can analyse the text but cannot describe a reaction.
In an authorised observation, define the interval before measuring. Record what happens and keep your explanation separate. A price can incorporate factors outside this exercise. Acknowledging that limitation improves your journal more than turning every move into confirmation of your original hypothesis.
Your reading practice
Choose a dated official release and summarise one figure with its series and period. Add a question about a component and another about a previous comparison. Mark which questions the document answers and which require another source. An unresolved question is a valid outcome of the exercise.
Review whether you confused an index with a percentage or a reference period with publication. The aim is a reading that another person can reproduce. This original analysis was published on 12 October 2026; it does not announce a new inflation figure or provide a trading signal.
Sources and references
Chezur examples and explanations are educational. Consult the original source to verify conditions, data and updates.
Context and review of this explanation
How do I distinguish monthly change, annual change and index levels in an inflation report?
- Topics
- Economic data · Session context
- Level
- Beginner
- Skills
- Read an economic release · Check provenance and version
- Examples
- See the scope described in the text and its sources.
- Specialist review
- Not documented for this edition. Automated structure and internal-link checks do not establish specialist review.