The Consumer Price Index increased 0.3% in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 0.1% in November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.4% before seasonal adjustment.
Prices for all items less food and energy, the “core CPI,” rose 0.3% in December, the same monthly increase as in November.
The index for shelter continued to rise in December, contributing over half of the monthly all items increase. The shelter index increased 0.5% in December, after rising 0.4% the previous month.
The food index increased 0.2% in December, as it did in November. The index for food at home edged up 0.1% over the month, also the same as in the previous month. Four of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased over the month. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs rose 0.5% in December, led by an 8.9% increase in the index for eggs. The food away from home index rose 0.3% in December, after rising 0.4% in November.
The energy index rose 0.4% in December, after decreasing 2.3% in November. The gasoline index increased 0.2% in December, following a 6.0% decline in the previous month. The index for electricity increased 1.3% over the month, while the natural gas index fell 0.4% in December. The increases in the electricity index and the gasoline index more than offset a decrease in the natural gas index and largely contributed to the overall increase of the energy index.
Read the BLS release.
