In economics, the inflation rate is a measure of inflation, the rate of increase of a price index (for example, a consumer price index). The rate of decrease in the purchasing power of money is approximately equal.
It's used to calculate the real interest rate, as well as real increases in wages, and official measurements of this rate act as input variables to COLA adjustments and Inflation derivatives prices.
The rate is usually expressed in annualized terms, though the measurement periods are usually different from one year. Inflation rates are often given in seasonally adjusted terms, removing systematic quarter-to-quarter variation.
