The Labor
Department announced on Thursday the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.2
per cent m-o-m in July, following an unrevised
0.1 per cent m-o-m slip in the previous month. This marked the first
monthly gain in the headline CPI in three months.
Over the last
12 months, the CPI climbed by 2.9 per cent y-o-y, decelerating from an unrevised increase of 3.0 per cent y-o-y reported for the
period ending in June. This represented the weakest
12-month rise since March 2021
(+2.6 per cent).
Economists had predicted
the U.S. CPI to increase by 0.2 per cent m-o-m and 3.0 per cent y-o-y.
According to
the report, the index for shelter
surged by 0.4 per cent m-o-m in July, contributing nearly 90 per cent of the
monthly gain in the index for all items. In addition, the index for food increased by 0.2 per cent m-o-m in July. Meanwhile, the energy index remained unchanged.
The core CPI,
excluding volatile food and fuel costs, went up 0.2 per cent m-o-m in July after an unrevised 0.1 per cent m-o-m uptick in the previous month.
In the 12
months through July, the core CPI climbed by 3.2 per cent, following an unrevised 3.3 per cent jump for the 12 months ending June. This was the weakest 12-month
increase since April 2021 (+3.0 per cent).
Economists
had expected the core CPI to advance by 0.2 per cent m-o-m and 3.2 per cent
y-o-y in July.