August 2025 CPI printed 2.9% — every forecaster graded

The August 2025 Consumer Price Index printed 2.9% year over year on September 11, 2025 (prior 2.7%, Street consensus 2.9%, surprise 0.00pp). Closest on the headline: Street consensus. Nowflation’s sealed forecast was not on the record for this print. Core CPI 3.1% (consensus 3.1%, prior 3.1%; closest Street consensus). Headline MoM 0.4% vs 0.3% expected.

Headline CPI YoY: printed 2.9%

ForecasterCallPrintedMiss
Cleveland Fed2.84%2.9%−0.059pp
Street consensus (closest)2.9%2.9%0.000pp

Core CPI YoY: printed 3.1%

ForecasterCallPrintedMiss
Cleveland Fed3.05%3.1%−0.048pp
Street consensus (closest)3.1%3.1%0.000pp

Headline CPI MoM: printed 0.4%

ForecasterCallPrintedMiss
Cleveland Fed (closest)0.30%0.4%−0.095pp
Street consensus0.3%0.4%−0.100pp

Core CPI MoM: printed 0.3%

ForecasterCallPrintedMiss
Cleveland Fed0.25%0.3%−0.049pp
Street consensus (closest)0.3%0.3%0.000pp

no pre-registration receipt for this print (receipts began June 2026) — values are the scoreboard rows frozen at grading time. Receipts on the record.

The Gauge stepping

The Gauge read 2.88% on the eve of the print and 3.07% the day after (+0.190pp), its gap to the printed number moving from −0.02pp to +0.17pp; the CPI Tracker 2.86% → 3.03%. The Gauge is a measurement of today, not a call on the print: on release day the components that hold an official subindex step to the new print while the live components keep moving.

Method

Before the print: every call as it stands on the tape, sealed into the receipt the evening before release (SHA-256 of the receipt JSON with its sha256 field removed). After the print: the scoreboard rows frozen at grading time — later revisions by any source never touch them. Graded against the BLS first release (YoY on the NSA index, MoM seasonally adjusted, one decimal). Signed error = forecast − actual.

Scoreboard · August 2025 preview · compare the forecasters · print day, live · dashboard.