To calculate the rate of inflation between two years using the Consumer Price Index (CPI), you can use the following formula:
\[ \text{Inflation Rate} = \left( \frac{\text{CPI}{\text{new}} - \text{CPI}{\text{old}}}{\text{CPI}_{\text{old}}} \right) \times 100 \]
In this case, the CPI in 2001 (\(\text{CPI}{\text{old}}\)) is 177.1, and the CPI in 2002 (\(\text{CPI}{\text{new}}\)) is 179.9. Plugging in these values:
\[ \text{Inflation Rate} = \left( \frac{179.9 - 177.1}{177.1} \right) \times 100 \]
Calculating the difference in CPI:
\[ 179.9 - 177.1 = 2.8 \]
Now, plug that into the equation:
\[ \text{Inflation Rate} = \left( \frac{2.8}{177.1} \right) \times 100 \]
Now calculate \(\frac{2.8}{177.1}\):
\[ \frac{2.8}{177.1} \approx 0.0158 \]
Now multiplying by 100 to get the percentage:
\[ 0.0158 \times 100 \approx 1.58% \]
Rounded to one decimal place, the rate of inflation is approximately 1.6 percent.
So, the answer is:
1.6 percent
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