By Tom Burnett CFA
On January 11, 2024, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Consumer Price Index report for December 2023. The CPI increased by 0.3%, following a rise of 0.1% in November. The CPI for October was flat. The latest year-over-year rate was an increase of 3.4%.
The Core rate, excluding food and energy, rose 0.3% in December and 3.9% from the prior year. Energy prices declined 2.0% on a year-over-year basis, while food prices rose 2.2% over the past 12 months.
The Report also provided historical CPI information. During the 2010-20 period, the annual CPI only exceeded 2.3% in one year-2011-and averaged less than 2% per year, until 2021 when it reached 7.0%. The annual figure for 2022 was 6.5%, before declining to 6.5% last year.
The next CPI report will be issued on February 13, 2024.
Tom Burnett CFA is Director of Research