Consumer Prices Slow in November, but Still Up 2.7% Annually
Energy Prices Rose 4.2%; Core Inflation Was Up 2.6%
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WASHINGTON — U.S.ÌýinflationÌýslowed unexpectedly last month, the government said in a report that was delayed by the government shutdown.
The Labor Department reported Dec. 18 that its consumer price index was up 2.7% in November from a year earlier.
The report was delayed eight days by the federal government’s 43-day shutdown, which also prevented the Labor Department from compiling overall numbers for consumer prices and core inflation in October. The Dec. 18 report gave investors, businesses and policymakers their first look at CPI since the September numbers were released on Oct. 24.
Consumers prices had risen 3% in September from a year earlier, and forecasters had expected the November CPI to match that year-over-year increase.
Energy prices, driven up by sharply higher fuel oil prices, rose 4.2% in November. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation was up 2.6%, compared to a 3% year-over-year gain in September and the lowest since March 2021.
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U.S. inflation has remained stubbornly above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, partly because of President Donald Trump’s decision to impose double-digit taxes on imports from almost every country on earth along with targeted tariffs on specific products like steel, aluminum and autos.
The president’s tariffs have so far proved less inflationary than economists feared. But they do put upward pressure on prices and complicate matters for Fed, which is trying to decide whether to keep cutting its benchmark interest rate to support aÌýsputtering job marketÌýor whether to hold off until inflationary pressures ease. The central bank last week decided to reduce the rate for the third time this year, but Fed officials signaled that they expect just one cut in 2026.
