The Consumer Price Index is used to calculate inflation, or the change in price of a basket of goods and services, as it impacts consumers; whereas, the Producer Price Index measures changes in selling prices, thereby expressing price changes from the perspective of the seller who produces a particular commodity.
A slide presentation updated with May 2017 data shows the Midwest inflation rate dropped slightly from April to May. While the urban metropolitan areas noticed a -0.71% decrease, the non-metropolitan urban areas saw a smaller decrease of -0.16%.
The Producer Price Index data shows that prices in the United States have increased from May 2016 to May 2017 for aircraft (0.7 percent), crude petroleum (7.0 percent), natural gas (61.1 percent), and slaughter livestock (1.4%). During that same time period, the index decreased sorghum (-6.6 percent) and wheat (-4.6 percent).