The Labor
Department announced on Thursday the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) went up 0.3
per cent m-o-m in January, following an unrevised 0.2 per cent m-o-m rise in the previous month. This marked the strongest
monthly gain in headline CPI since
September 2023 (+0.4 per cent m-o-m).
Over the last
12 months, the CPI soared by 3.1 per cent y-o-y, slowing from an unrevised gain
of 3.4 per cent y-o-y reported for the period ending in December 2023.
Economists had predicted
the U.S. CPI to rise by 0.2 per cent m-o-m and 2.9 per cent y-o-y.
According to
the report, the index for shelter (+0.6 per cent m-o-m) continued to grow in January,
contributing over two-thirds of the monthly increase in all items index. The
food index (+0.4 per cent m-o-m) also contributed to the monthly all items advance.
These gains, however, were partly offset by a decline in the energy index (-0.9
per cent m-o-m), which mainly stemmed from a drop in the gasoline index (-3.3 per cent m-o-m).
Meanwhile, the
core CPI, excluding volatile food and fuel costs, jumped by 0.4 per cent m-o-m
in January after an unrevised 0.3 per cent m-o-m advance in the previous month. This
represented the largest monthly increase in core CPI since April 2023 (+0.5 per
cent m-o-m).
In the 12
months through January, the core CPI surged by 3.9 per cent, the same pace as
in the period ending in December.
Economists
had forecast the core CPI to increase by 0.3 per cent m-o-m and 3.7 per cent
y-o-y in January.