Inflation Slowed for Sixth Straight Month in December!
Consumer-price index rose 6.5% last month from a year earlier!
Despite some recent easing of price pressures, inflation continues to run well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
Tweet on easing of inflation
U.S. inflation eased in December for the sixth straight month following a mid-2022 peak as the Federal Reserve aggressively raised interest rates and the economy showed signs of cooling.#cpi #inflation #data pic.twitter.com/eAVbA92rK0
— The_Journalbiz (@the_journalbiz) January 13, 2023
Chart courtesy of Labor Dpt.
U.S. inflation eased in December for the sixth straight month following a mid-2022 peak as the Federal Reserve aggressively raised interest rates and the economy showed signs of cooling.
The consumer-price index, a measurement of what consumers pay for goods and services, rose 6.5% last month from a year earlier, down from 7.1% in November and well below a 9.1% peak in June.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, climbed 5.7% in December from a year earlier, easing from a 6% gain in November. Many economists see increases in core CPI as a better signal of future inflation than the overall CPI. Core prices increased at a 3.1% annualized rate in the three months ended in December, the slowest pace in more than a year and down from 7.9% in June.
The figures added to signs that inflation is turning a corner following last year’s surge. They also likely keep the Fed on track to reduce the size of interest-rate increases to a quarter-percentage-point at their meeting that concludes on Feb. 1, down from a half-percentage point increase in December.
U.S. stocks climbed Thursday and investors bought U.S. Treasury’s, lifting bond prices and weighing on yields.
The S&P 500 added 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6%, or 217 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite also rose 0.6%.
