Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) measures prices of various goods and services used by the urban consumers, and publishes the details at monthly interval. One of the important indicators that results from these measures is the Consumer Price Index - which is often considered as the measure of the inflation in the US.

I believe efforts should be made to earn interest/dividend rate for the money one has, that's at least equal to - if not more than - the rate of inflation. Failure to do this amounts to loss in the purchasing power of the money.

Inflation keeps diminishing the 'value' of money non-stop (24/7/365).

I keep a close eye on the inflation, and do the charting in Excel. Here's the latest chart.