Inflation ticked higher in January as stubbornly high prices continued to strain Americans’ household finances as the Federal Reserve weighs a continued pause to its interest rate cut plans.
The Labor Department on Wednesday said that the consumer price index – a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost – increased 0.5% in January while it rose to 3% on an annual basis.
Both the annual and headline CPI figures were hotter than the estimates of economists polled by LSEG, who had predicted inflation rose 0.3% on a monthly basis and 2.9% from a year ago, and came in higher than last month’s readings of 0.4% and 2.9%, respectively.
So-called core prices, which exclude more volatile measurements of gasoline and food to better assess price growth trends, were up 0.4% in January and 3.3% on an annual basis and were hotter than expected. LSEG economists had estimated a monthly rise of 0.3% and annual increase of 3.1%. Both figures were 0.1 percentage points higher than last month.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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