(The Center Square) – Prices rose again last month, according to newly released federal inflation data.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday released its Consumer Price Index, a key marker of inflation, which jumped 0.4% in December, part of a 2.9% increase over the last year.
The higher December costs were partially driven by higher energy costs, including gasoline.
Gasoline prices are lower overall in the last year but are now on the rise. According to AAA, gas prices have risen about 7 cents in the last month, or 2 cents in the last week.
“Four of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased in December,” BLS said. “The index for cereals and bakery products rose 1.2% over the month, after falling 1.1% in November. The meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index increased 0.6% in December, as the eggs index rose 3.2%. The index for other food at home rose 0.3% over the month and the index for dairy and related products increased 0.2%.”
Some experts pointed out that “core inflation,” which is pricing data that omits certain factors like food and energy costs, looks better.
“Core Inflation isn’t accelerating and that’s the story,” Jamie Cox, managing partner for Harris Financial Group, said in a statement. “The market may have had its hair on fire about inflation running away again, but the data do not support that conclusion. What we are seeing is the typical ebb and flow of the data as inflation is being pushed out of the system.”
Food and energy cost are excluded in the core figures because they are more volatile. However, those costs are among the most impactful for Americans.
“The Fed’s rate-cut strategy has backfired. They started too soon, before inflation stabilized at its 2 percent target,” Ryan Young, senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said in a statement. “While an interest rate increase is not in the cards, it is more likely the Fed will hold rates steady at their next meeting on January 28-29.
“The CPI is up 2.9 percent over the last year, after a bigger-than-usual 0.4 percent jump during December,” he added. “More concerning is the Core CPI, which is now at a 3.2 percent annual rate.
