price index

American  

noun

1. an index of the changes in the prices of goods and services, based on the prices of the same goods and services at a period arbitrarily selected as a base, usually expressed as 100.

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Etymology

Origin of price index

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

It raised its consensus for year-end core inflation, based on the price index of personal-consumption expenditures, to 2.9% from 2.6% in January.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

In the era of dynamic pricing and electronic points of sale, the technology exists to provide almost minute-by-minute inflation readings that would allow for a far more accurate, up-to-date consumer price index.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

Core PCE is the change from a year earlier in the quarterly average of the seasonally adjusted personal-consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

The upshot of Tuesday’s producer price data is that key PPI components that feed into the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures price index, were more mixed than expected.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

Fifty thousand pounds in modern money, using a retail price index, but £725,000 in modern money using an average wage multiplier.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• consumer price index
• retail price index
• wholesale price index