By Tom Burnett CFA
On January 12, 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Consumer Price Index information for the month of December. Prices rose by 0.5% in December, following larger increases of 0.9% in October and 0.8% in November. The Index rose by 7.0% in the 12 months ending in December, the largest 12-month increase since the 12-months ending in June 1982.
The Core Index, excluding food and energy, rose 0.6% in December, after an increase of 0.5% increase in November. December was the sixth time in the past nine months when the Core Index increased by at least 0.5%. For the 12 months ending in December, the Core Index rose 5.5%, the largest 12-month since February 1991. Over the past year, energy prices rose by 29.3% and food prices increased by 6.3%.
The next release of the Consumer Price Index data will be for January 2022 which will be issued on February 10, 2022.
Tom Burnett CFA is Director of Research