Each month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, an economic indicator commonly used to measure consumer inflation. Specifically, the CPI is a “measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.” In other words, how have prices changed over the last twelve months?
Inflation causes the purchasing power of a dollar to decrease over time. As such, it especially hurts consumers who are trying to save money or who are living off of fixed incomes (such as pensioners, social security beneficiaries, etc.) — without a competitive interest rate to offset inflation, money allocated as savings will, over time, lose value in real terms.
Each month, NerdWallet scans the banking landscape to find the most competitive interest rates such that consumers and savers can end up in a “net-positive” situation. Check out our most recent statistics and select deposit accounts that are outperforming inflation.
12-Month Inflation Rate: 1.70%
Most recent edition: January 2013
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