|  |  | Interactive Graph of American Spending (GRAPH) www.nytimes.com — Each month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics gathers 84,000 prices in about 200 categories to form the Consumer Price Index, one measure of inflation. Itâ€™s among the statistics that the Federal Reserve considered when it cut interest rates on Wednesday. The categories are weighted according to an estimate of what the average American spends, as shownMore... (Business & Finance) Comments Email Added 2008-05-05 06:37:26 MrBabyMan