The Fact
The headline Consumer Price Index includes food and energy. BLS also publishes a separate “all items less food and energy” index, commonly called core CPI, because those categories can be volatile.
What This Means
When someone says “the government leaves food and gas out of inflation,” that is not true of the headline CPI. Food and energy are included in the all-items CPI; they are excluded only from specific analytical versions such as core CPI.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Common Misconceptions about the CPI; CPI All Items tables. Accessed October 2, 2026. https://www.bls.gov/cpi/