The Bureau of Labor Statistics came out with its recent report of the U.S CPI for January 2013. Based on the latest report, the consumer price index remained flat for the second consecutive month; in annual terms the US CPI increased by 1.6%. The consumer price index sans food and energy rose by 0.3% during January and by 1.9% in the last twelve months.
The prime reason for the stagnation in the U.S. consumer price index was related to the stagnation in the food prices: the food index remained unchanged; on the other hand, the energy index declined by 1.7% (M-2-M) during January; in annual terms the energy index decreased by 1%; among the energy products, the gasoline led the fall with a 3% tumble during last month. During the past twelve months, the food index rose by 1.6%.
The core U.S inflation (CPI sans energy and food) increased by 0.3% during January and by 1.9% during the past 12 months. These figures coincided with the recent U.S PPI report, in which the core PPI increased by 0.2% during last month.
In the previous monthly report for December 2012 CPI also remained unchanged and the core CPI inched up by 0.1% (M-2-M).
The chart below presents the percent shifts (M-O-M) of the U.S. CPI during the past couple of years (up to date).
Since the core CPI continues to rise, it could mean the U.S economy is still slowly progressing. This news doesn’t seem to have much of an effect on the path of the U.S dollar against other currencies or commodities rates.
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