Consumer Price Index Inflation

Inflation, which is the change in the level of prices over time, affects City finances in many ways. For example, in its financial planning and budgeting, the City must take inflation into account in calculating its costs for goods and services, as well as wages and employee benefits. City of Seattle's revenues are also affected by inflation, as the prices of taxable goods and services rise over time, in addition, formulas used to calculate the tax liability for some taxes directly involve measures of inflation.

The economic modeling and forecasting that the Office for Economic and Revenue Forecasts conducts each quarter includes a forecast of regional inflation for Seattle MSA metropolitan area. These inflation forecasts inform both near- and longer-term financial planning for a variety of City departments, including the City Budget Office. Inflation forecasts are developed and reported for both traditional calendar-year measures of inflation, and for measures that capture price increases over the period from June of the previous year to June of the current. These latter measures have traditionally been incorporated into City's labor contracts and they are therefore important for the City's internal financial planning.  

The Frequently Asked Questions section explains how inflation is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and how to adjust financial data to remove the effects of inflation. Cost of Living Adjustment Calculations provides information on how the City uses the CPI to calculate cost-of-living adjustments for labor contracts. Historical data and forecasts for inflation can be found directly below.

Historical Data and Forecasts

The link below is to a file that contains historical data of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the United States and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), as well as our most current forecasts for Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) inflation on both a quarterly and annual basis. Historical data and forecasts are provided for both CPI-U and CPI-W.  Although the Forecast Office relies on national inflation forecasts to develop our regional forecasts, we are not authorized to share those proprietary national forecasts.

Inflation - Historical Data and Forecasts