Monthly Reports
The Reality Index monthly inflation report — what a fixed household basket actually costs versus the official CPI, one dated release per month. Newest first.
Every monthly release, with the headline rate, the RI-versus-CPI gap, and the cumulative gap since 1980. Each links to the full brief with charts. For methodology updates and other news, see News.
The full monthly series, 1998 to date, with month-on-month readings, is on the monthly index page. Briefs marked restated were rebuilt on that series on 23 September 2026.
RI +4.63% vs CPI +3.74% YoY · cumulative gap +34.9%
Gasoline surged again — +34.2% year over year and +9.1% in a single month — and lifted both measures, the Reality Index to 4.63% and the official index to 3.74%. The gap narrowed to 90 basis points: when energy does the driving, the two indices converge.
RI +4.33% vs CPI +3.40% YoY · cumulative gap +34.9% · restated
Gasoline re-accelerated — +27.4% YoY, a Labor Day record — and the gap held at 94 basis points as transportation ran +7.0% against an official index that slowed to 3.40%.
RI +4.27% vs CPI +3.36% YoY · cumulative gap +34.9% · restated
Gasoline kept cooling — +24.6% YoY, down from June — but the monthly gap widened to 94 basis points as the official index decelerated faster than the prices households actually face.
RI +4.41% vs CPI +3.53% YoY · cumulative gap +34.8%
Energy cooled from May’s peak — gasoline eased to +26.7% YoY — and the Reality Index slipped to +4.41%, holding about 88 basis points above the official CPI on its structural housing and vehicle edge.
RI +5.17% vs CPI +4.25% YoY · cumulative gap +34.7% · restated
An energy-led month: gasoline +40.5% pulled the official index up toward the Reality Index, compressing the monthly gap to ~80 basis points.
RI +4.72% vs CPI +3.81% YoY · cumulative gap +34.6% · restated
Restated on the current methodology — fixed 2000 weights, tenure housing, transaction-price transportation, latest-available data. Energy began to accelerate.
RI +4.46% vs CPI +3.26% YoY · cumulative gap +34.6% · restated
Used-vehicle prices kept transportation at the top of the index (restated), the widest spring monthly gap, before the energy surge narrowed the margin.