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Consumer Price Index, CPI-U · Recreation, education and communication, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted

How have prices changed for recreation, education and communication?

The month ended : of the 22 lines, the change over a year was largest for Postage and delivery services, up 12.9%, and smallest for Information technology goods, down 2.8%.

Consumer price index for recreation, education and communication, recreation goods and services, each month

September 2016 to September 2026Seasonally adjusted, as publishedNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Consumer price index for recreation, education and communication, recreation goods and services, each month, one row for each measure
  • Recreation commodities87.578.2 to 87.5
  • Recreation services159.8115.7 to 159.8
  • Video and audio124.1100.6 to 124.2
  • Video and audio products33.231.6 to 51.9
  • Video and audio services163.5117.5 to 163.7
  • Pets and pet products236.1169.9 to 237.0
  • Sporting goods129.4108.7 to 129.4
  • Photography87.072.9 to 89.3

Consumer price index for recreation, education and communication, other recreation, each month

September 2016 to September 2026Seasonally adjusted, as publishedNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Consumer price index for recreation, education and communication, other recreation, each month, one row for each measure
  • Other recreational goods35.232.7 to 43.2
  • Other recreation services212.7160.1 to 212.9
  • Recreational reading materials314.6237.7 to 314.6

Consumer price index for recreation, education and communication, education, each month

September 2016 to September 2026Seasonally adjusted, as publishedNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Consumer price index for recreation, education and communication, education, each month, one row for each measure
  • Education323.5248.8 to 323.5
  • Educational books and supplies772.2664.9 to 776.5
  • Tuition and childcare930.9711.0 to 930.9
  • College tuition and fees996.9809.9 to 996.9

Consumer price index for recreation, education and communication, communication, each month

September 2016 to September 2026Seasonally adjusted, as publishedNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Consumer price index for recreation, education and communication, communication, each month, one row for each measure
  • Communication73.671.6 to 78.6
  • Information processing68.967.1 to 74.8
  • Postage and delivery services290.4175.7 to 290.4
  • Information technology99.799.4 to 115.6
  • Information technology goods34.533.7 to 59.1

Each row is one line of the page over the last ten years, one month to a point, on a scale shared by the rows of the tab, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a month with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

Observed .

Consumer price index for recreation, education and communication, education and communication, each month

September 2016 to September 2026Seasonally adjusted, as publishedNo picture is made of these rows; their numbers are in the table

Consumer price index for recreation, education and communication, education and communication, each month, one row for each measure
  • Education and communication goods51.049.8 to 79.6
  • Education and communication services128.6108.2 to 128.6

Each row is one line of the page over the last ten years, one month to a point, on a scale shared by the rows of the tab, with its newest value and its range printed beside it and a dashed line at zero. A gap is a month with no value. Pointing at the chart shows the month and the value.

Observed .

Right now

Over a year to September 2026, of the 22 lines on this page the change was largest for Postage and delivery services, up 12.9%, and smallest for Information technology goods, down 2.8%.

Of these lines, 19 rose, 3 fell and 0 did not change over the year (ours, from the published values).

See every line with its value and rank

By lineOver a year, ours

Consumer price index for recreation, education and communication, change over a year, by line

September 2025 to September 2026Percent, ours, from the published values

  • Recreation goods and services
  • Other recreation
  • Education
  • Communication
  • Education and communication

Each bar is the change in one line over a year, the largest first, with its rank at the left and its newest value under the figure. A line with its own page links it from its name. A change below zero runs to the left of the zero line. The colour says which section of the page a line is in.

Observed .

Consumer price index for recreation, education and communication, change over a year in each month

Percent, ours, from the published values

Line
Recreation commodities–+0.7+1.2+1.5+2.5+3.3+3.0+2.6+2.9+3.1+3.0+3.6
Recreation services–+2.4+4.0+3.1+2.1+1.6+1.9+2.6+2.7+2.2+2.4+2.3
Video and audio–+2.5+3.9+3.9+1.6+2.1+3.0+2.5+2.7+3.5+3.9+3.6
Video and audio products–+0.5+1.1+3.7+4.5+3.8+3.0+2.1+1.9+2.4+1.9+1.9
Video and audio services–+3.2+4.8+3.9+0.6+1.5+3.0+2.6+2.9+3.7+4.5+4.0
Pets and pet products–+2.6+3.6+3.4+3.3+4.2+3.8+3.2+3.2+3.0+3.2+2.2
Sporting goods–−0.1+0.3+0.7+3.8+4.5+3.9+4.4+4.5+4.3+5.3+4.7
Photography–+0.7+3.6+3.2+3.5+4.3+3.4+3.7+2.5+0.6+2.4+1.8
Other recreational goods–+0.8+1.1+1.0+0.4+2.6+3.7+3.1+4.4+4.5+2.5+6.0
Other recreation services–+1.5+3.1+2.0+2.0+0.7+0.7+2.0+2.0+1.0+0.8+1.3
Recreational reading materials–+4.7+3.8+1.9+1.9−0.9−1.8−1.2−0.2+2.2+4.2+7.0
Education–+2.9+2.9+2.9+2.8+2.8+2.8+2.6+2.5+2.7+3.3+3.8
Educational books and supplies–+0.2+0.8––−0.6–−0.9+0.5+1.2+1.1+1.9
Tuition and childcare–+2.9+2.9+2.9+2.9+2.8+2.9+2.6+2.5+2.7+3.4+3.8
College tuition and fees–+1.7+1.5+2.1+2.0+2.0+2.0+1.9+1.8+2.2+2.8+4.0
Communication–+0.3−1.5−1.4−2.2−2.2−2.0−0.6−2.1−1.2+1.1+1.1
Information processing–+0.2−1.6−1.5−2.3−2.3−2.2−0.9−2.4−1.5+0.9+0.9
Postage and delivery services–+4.5+4.5+5.2+6.1+6.3+9.5+14.7+14.6+13.2+12.8+12.9
Information technology–+0.7−0.2+0.3−1.2−1.7−1.5−0.8−1.4−0.2−1.1−1.1
Information technology goods–−3.3−4.0−3.8−6.7−6.7−6.3−6.4−7.2−4.8−4.3−2.8
Education and communication goods–−3.1−3.7−3.5−6.3−6.4−6.0−6.1−6.8−4.5−4.0−2.6
Education and communication services–+2.2+1.1+1.2+1.1+1.0+1.1+1.9+1.0+1.3+3.1+3.1

Each chip is one month's change from the same month a year earlier. The mark in its middle is zero: a fill to the right of it is a rise and a fill to the left a fall. A longer, brighter fill is a larger change, in five steps up to 4.8 and over. Every chip prints its figure and sign. A dash is a month with no figure.

Observed .

Understanding recreation and education

Where it stands today

The largest change over a year was Postage and delivery services, up 12.9%, in September 2026.

What do the lines of this page measure?

These are the consumer price indexes for recreation, education and communication, from the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes them each month, about two weeks after the month ends, seasonally adjusted. Every line is an index that BLS scales to 100 in a base period of its own, so lines are compared by their change, not by their level.

Read more

The lines are recreation goods and services, education, and communication, with the two totals of education and communication.

What 500metrics adds: the change over a year of every line, ranked across the page; the last ten years of every line as rows of small charts; and a table of the change over a year in each of the last twelve months. Every line has a page of its own with the history since its series begins.

The numbers behind the chart

What is the latest value of each line?22 lines, in the sections of the page
Consumer price index for recreation, education and communication: the newest month of each line, its change over a year (ours) and its rank by that change; equal changes share a rank
LineSectionMonthValueChange over a yearRank
Recreation commoditiesRecreation goods and services87.5+3.6%9
Recreation servicesRecreation goods and services159.8+2.3%12
Video and audioRecreation goods and services124.1+3.6%9
Video and audio productsRecreation goods and services33.2+1.9%14
Video and audio servicesRecreation goods and services163.5+4.0%5
Pets and pet productsRecreation goods and services236.1+2.2%13
Sporting goodsRecreation goods and services129.4+4.7%4
PhotographyRecreation goods and services87.0+1.8%16
Other recreational goodsOther recreation35.2+6.0%3
Other recreation servicesOther recreation212.7+1.3%17
Recreational reading materialsOther recreation314.6+7.0%2
EducationEducation323.5+3.8%7
Educational books and suppliesEducation772.2+1.9%14
Tuition and childcareEducation930.9+3.8%7
College tuition and feesEducation996.9+4.0%5
CommunicationCommunication73.6+1.1%18
Information processingCommunication68.9+0.9%19
Postage and delivery servicesCommunication290.4+12.9%1
Information technologyCommunication99.7−1.1%20
Information technology goodsCommunication34.5−2.8%22
Education and communication goodsEducation and communication51.0−2.6%21
Education and communication servicesEducation and communication128.6+3.1%11

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What do these figures leave out, and how are they cited?Limits, dates and how to cite

What this number cannot tell you

  • An index measures the change of prices, not the prices themselves. The base period differs from line to line, so the level of one line cannot be set beside the level of another: only the changes can.
  • The lines overlap. BLS builds the items from one another, so a line can be a part of another line of this page or of another inflation page. The lines do not add up to a total.
  • The values are seasonally adjusted, and BLS revises the adjusted values of the last five years each February. The change over 12 months that BLS headlines is worked out from values that are not seasonally adjusted, and can differ from the change on this page.
  • BLS did not collect prices for October 2025 because of the lapse in appropriations. Where BLS publishes no value for that month, the charts show a gap.
  • The changes and the ranks are ours, worked out from the values BLS publishes; a change is in percent.

Observed . Checked .

How to cite this

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index, Recreation, education and communication, U.S. city average, seasonally adjusted, through September 2026. Compiled by 500metrics, "How have prices changed for recreation, education and communication?", https://500metrics.com/recreation-and-education-inflation.

Can the data be downloaded?recreation-and-education-inflation.csv

Download the last ten years of every line as CSV: 2,633 rows, to , 169,425 bytes.

Our text and compilation: CC BY 4.0.

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