econ.mom · Saras Totey · Boulder, CO
Inflation Decomposer
Decomposes headline CPI into supply, demand, expectations, and policy components using the Bernanke-Blanchard framework.
Decompose headline CPI into supply, demand, expectations, and policy components using the Bernanke-Blanchard (2024) framework with Hazell-Herreño-Nakamura-Steinsson expectations weighting. Live FRED inputs.
Decomposition basket
Splits monthly headline CPI inflation into the eight major BLS expenditure categories with their actual relative importance weights from the most recent annual reweighting. The chart shows percentage-point contribution to headline CPI year-over-year change, so the stacked bars sum to the headline rate.
CPI components tracked
- Food: 13.4% weight (FRED CPIFABSL)
- Energy: 6.7% weight (FRED CPIENGSL)
- Shelter: 36.2% weight (FRED CUSR0000SAH1)
- Apparel: 2.5% weight (FRED CPIAPPSL)
- Transportation services: 5.9% weight (FRED CUSR0000SAS4)
- Medical care services: 6.6% weight (FRED CUSR0000SAM2)
- Recreation: 5.4% weight (FRED CPIRECSL)
- Education and communication: 6.4% weight (FRED CPIEDUSL)
Why it matters for AP Macro
The 2022 to 2024 inflation episode was 70 percent driven by shelter and energy. The decomposition makes that visible and shows why the Fed's preferred measure (core PCE) gave a different signal than headline CPI.
JavaScript loads the interactive version of this tool. The full library lives at econ.mom.
Brand identity and design system by ATT Agency, a Boulder, Colorado marketing studio.