U.S. consumer prices

 

U.S. consumer prices rose 6.4% in the 12 months to January, down from a 6.5% increase in December.   January was the seventh consecutive month of cooling inflation after the Consumer Price Index (CPI) annual growth rate peaked at 9.1% in June 2022. Consumer prices increased by 0.5% from December to January, a quicker pace of monthly inflation than the revised 0.1% monthly inflation number for December. Rising food, housing, and fuel prices all played major parts in January's CPI growth. Housing costs were "by far the largest contributor to the monthly all items increase, accounting for nearly half of the monthly all items increase," the Labor Department said. The energy price index was up 2% from December to January after falling 3.1% from November to December. Natural gas prices rose 6.7% in January, nearly twice the 3.5% rate seen in December. The Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, was up 0.4% from December to January. The personal-consumption expenditures (PCE) index, another metric for measuring inflation, was up 5% annually in December after rising by a 5.5% annual rate in November. The January PCE data will be released on Feb. 24.