The consumer price index (CPI) is a measure of the average change in the pricespaid by urban consumers for a fixed market basket of goods and services. The CPIis based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, fuel, drugs, transportation forday-to-day living. The quantity and quality of these items are kept essentiallyunchanged between major revisions so that only price changes will be measured.All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included inthe index.