3 ms·

"inflation" is not "cost of living" really. Cost of living is a variety of factors, moreover, inflation tends to not include housing and fuel. Though there are

• criddell 8y ago
  Why doesn't inflation include housing and fuel?
  • billysielu 8y ago
    to make the number smaller, so they can pay you less
  • sonnyblarney 8y ago
    There are various ways to do inflation, most governments release a variety of measures. Fuel is not included sometimes because of it's inherent volatility, it jams the numbers up and does not give a clear picture. Housing - I think they might include rent but not mortgages as the later reflects consumption over times other than for when inflation is calculated.
  • mercutio2 8y ago
    I’m not sure why housing and fuel were juxtaposed; most “core” inflation indexes I’m familiar with remove fuel and FOOD, because the short term volatility for those two are very high. [A national estimate of] housing generally is included. I don’t agree with the root poster of this thread, though, because real wages are generally indexed to national consumption, whereas housing specifically (and to a lesser extent, food and services) are local markets, so you can have real wage growth but if you live in a high COL area, you really do have to look at real income and deflate (slightly! People often do COL deflation on gross salary, which is silly) for COL.