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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchServices PMI and CPI describe different parts of the inflation picture. The ISM Services PMI Prices Index tracks whether surveyed service-sector organizations report paying higher, lower, or unchanged prices; CPI measures how prices paid by consumers for a weighted basket change over time. A Services PMI Prices Index of 74 is not 74% inflation.
What does Services PMI measure?
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) surveys purchasing and supply executives at service organizations nationwide. Its Services PMI is a diffusion index based on respondents’ reports about business conditions, including activity and prices paid. ISM says its national survey represents the entire United States; regional purchasing reports primarily represent their local areas and do not feed into the national result. Industry coverage is diversified by NAICS classification and industries’ contributions to GDP. ISM’s methodology description explains the survey’s scope.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion for the composite Services PMI. The Prices Index is a separate diffusion index: it summarizes the direction of respondents’ reported price changes, rather than measuring the size of those changes in dollars or percentages.
What a Prices Index of 74 means
In ISM’s September 2026 report, the Services PMI was 54.9 and the Prices Index was 74.0. For the Prices Index, 50.3% of respondents reported higher prices, 47.5% reported no change, and 2.2% reported lower prices. The 74.0 reading therefore signals that reports of rising prices were widespread; it does not mean service-sector prices rose 74%.
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ISM’s report page has a title displaying “September 2025,” while its body and tables identify the data as September 2026. The figures here follow the report body and tables. View the ISM report.
What does CPI measure?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) defines CPI as the change over time in prices paid by consumers for goods and services. It uses sampled prices and weights that reflect the relative importance of items in consumer spending. The broad CPI-U covers urban consumers; CPI-W covers a subset of wage earners and clerical workers. BLS also publishes the chained C-CPI-U, which is initially preliminary and revised, unlike CPI-U and CPI-W, which are final when issued. BLS’s CPI questions and answers describe the measures and their coverage.
As of October 7, 2026, the latest available release was for August 2026: CPI-U rose 3.4% over 12 months and 0.3% over one month, not seasonally adjusted. BLS scheduled the September CPI release for October 14, 2026. Check the BLS CPI release for current figures.
Services PMI vs. CPI: the key differences
| Comparison | Services PMI and Prices Index | CPI |
|---|---|---|
| What it observes | Survey respondents’ reports on business direction and prices paid | Sampled consumer prices over time |
| Population | Purchasing and supply executives at service organizations nationwide | Defined consumer populations, primarily urban consumers for CPI-U |
| How it is expressed | Diffusion index; 50 is the reference point for expansion or contraction in the composite index | Weighted price index, commonly reported as a monthly or annual percentage change |
| What it says about inflation | A timely survey signal about the breadth and direction of reported business cost pressure | Change in prices paid by consumers for the covered basket |
| Latest reading available October 7, 2026 | September 2026 Services PMI: 54.9; Prices Index: 74.0 | August 2026 CPI-U: +3.4% over 12 months |
| Main limitation | Survey reports are not transaction-price changes or a consumer basket | The national average may not match an individual household’s spending pattern |
Why can the ISM Prices Index and CPI move differently?
The measures cover different populations and different stages of pricing. ISM asks service-sector business respondents whether prices they pay have risen, fallen, or stayed the same. CPI tracks prices consumers pay for a defined basket. Businesses’ reported input costs can change before, after, or without a matching change in consumer prices; the two measures also cover different items and use different methods.
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As a result, a higher ISM Prices Index may indicate that price increases are being reported more broadly among surveyed organizations, but it does not establish how much consumer inflation has changed. CPI provides the consumer-price measure; the ISM index provides a distinct business survey signal.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which indicator measures inflation consumers actually pay?
CPI is the relevant measure when the question is how prices paid by consumers have changed for the index’s covered basket. It is still an average, not a personalized inflation rate: a household that spends more on housing, food, transport, or another category than the representative basket may experience a different change in its own expenses. BLS explains that CPI reflects an average across its covered population, not every individual’s cost of living.
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How to read both indicators together
- Use the Services PMI composite to see whether surveyed service-sector business conditions are expanding or contracting.
- Use its Prices Index as a directional indicator of how broadly respondents report higher, unchanged, or lower prices paid.
- Use CPI to assess changes over time in consumer prices for its defined basket and population.
- Check each release date and population before interpreting a change, and compare trends within each measure rather than comparing their raw values.
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