Consumer Prices Rose 0.1% in August, Inflation at 8.3%
Washington, DC, September 13, 2022--The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.1% in August on a seasonally adjusted basis after being unchanged in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 8.3% before seasonal adjustment.
Increases in the shelter, food, and medical care indexes were the largest of many contributors to the broad-based monthly all items increase. These increases were mostly offset by a 10.6% decline in the gasoline index. The food index continued to rise, increasing 0.8% over the month as the food at home index rose 0.7%. The energy index fell 5.0% over the month as the gasoline index declined, but the electricity and natural gas indexes increased.
“The pace of U.S. consumer-price increases moderated somewhat in August but remained close to a four-decade high,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
“The Labor Department on Tuesday reported its consumer-price index rose 8.3% in August from the same month a year ago, down from 8.5% in July and from 9.1% in June, which was the highest inflation rate in four decades. The CPI measures what consumers pay for goods and services.
“So-called core CPI, which excludes often volatile energy and food prices, increased 6.3% in August from a year earlier, up sharply from the 5.9% rate in both June and July-a signal that broad price pressures strengthened.
“On a monthly basis, the CPI increased 0.1% in August from July, despite a sharp decline in gasoline prices. The core CPI rose 0.6% in August–double July’s pace.
“Inflation has recently shown signs of easing for some goods and services. Gasoline prices declined sharply in August. The national average price of regular gasoline was $3.71 a gallon on Tuesday, down 26% from the peak in June, according to OPIS, an energy-data and analytics provider owned by Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
“‘Consumers are getting relief at the pump and there should be further relief coming at the gasoline station and the grocery store, since one of the biggest costs of food is transporting it,’ said Ryan Sweet, senior director of economic research at Moody’s Analytics.”