Glossary
CPI-U
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, the index most commercial contracts mean by 'CPI.'
CPI-U is the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. It is the broad index. When a commercial service contract says CPI and names a series at all, it usually means CPI-U, and it usually means the not-seasonally-adjusted all-items index for U.S. city average, series CUUR0000SA0, base 1982–84=100.
CPI-U is not CPI-W, and it is not the Employment Cost Index. It is also not the percent in a news headline, which is one particular 12-month change, rounded, for one series. The clause may want a different pair of months.
Metro CPI-U indexes exist for a limited set of cities, some monthly and some every other month. They have their own series IDs and sometimes a different base period, such as December 2001=100 for Phoenix or December 2017=100 for Riverside. You cannot divide a Dallas index by a national index. The bases and the baskets are not the same comparison.
Use the level BLS published for the named series and months. RateClause's calculator stores those levels from the BLS Public Data API and shows the division. It does not scrape a headline.
Related terms
See it used in a worked example · CPI calculator · Request an audit
Sources and limits
Index levels from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, not seasonally adjusted, retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on November 1, 2026. Values are index points, not the headline 12-month percent.
Statewide rates reflect U.S. Department of Labor state minimum-wage postings as updated January 1, 2026, the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Note on 2026 increases, and, for the prior-year comparison and named local rates, the National Employment Law Project compilation published in November 2025. Confirm the rate that applies to the workplace before using it in a bill.
The contracts in these worksheets are fictional. The prices are chosen so the arithmetic is easy to check. They are not a price survey and they are not client results.
RateClause is not a law firm. Nothing on this page is legal advice. Your clause controls, including whether a past period can be rebilled at all.
Primary postings: BLS Consumer Price Index, U.S. Department of Labor, state minimum wages, U.S. Department of State notice of 2026 minimum-wage increases.