The Labor Department reported on Tuesday the U.S. consumer price index
(CPI) rose 0.5 percent m-o-m in January 2023, following an unrevised 0.1 percent m-o-m uptick in the previous month. That marked the strongest
monthly advance in headline CPI in three months.
Over the last 12 months, the CPI surged 6.4 percent y-o-y, decelerating
slightly from an unrevised increase of 6.5 percent y-o-y reported for the
period ending in December. That was the weakest 12-month rise since October
2021 (+6.2 percent).
Economists had anticipated the U.S. CPI to advance 0.5 percent m-o-m and
6.2 percent y-o-y in the 12-month period.
According to the report, the January m-o-m gain in all items index was
mainly due to a 0.7 percent m-o-m rise in the index for shelter. In addition, the
indexes for food (+0.5 percent m-o-m), gasoline (+2.4 percent m-o-m), and
natural gas (+6.7 percent m-o-m) also contributed to the increase.
Meanwhile, the core CPI excluding volatile food and fuel costs went up
0.4 percent m-o-m in January, the same pace as in the previous month.
In the 12 months through January, the core CPI jumped 5.6 percent, following
an unrevised 5.7 percent soar for the 12 months ending December. That represented
the weakest 12-month increase since December 2021 (+5.5 percent).
Economists had predicted the core CPI to increase 0.4
percent m-o-m and 5.5 percent y-o-y last month.