what is headline inflation

Headline inflation is a measure of the total inflation within an economy, including commodities such as food and energy prices, which tend to be much more volatile and prone to inflationary spikes. It is reported through the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and is not adjusted to remove highly volatile figures, unlike core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices. While headline inflation is more volatile, it is still used by many central banks as a target variable for designing monetary policy. In the United States, the Federal Reserve focuses on core inflation, but still takes headline inflation into account