The Consumer Price Index rose 4.2% over the 12 months ending in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday, the highest annual rate since April 2023 and up from 3.8% in April.
Month over month, the all-items index gained 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis, with energy prices responsible for more than 60% of that rise
A 3.9% jump in the energy index pushed its 12-month gain to 23.5%, while gasoline alone surged 7.0% for the month and 40.5% from a year earlier. Excluding food and energy, the core CPI posted a 0.2% monthly gain and a 2.9% annual increase. That monthly figure came in under the 0.3% that Dow Jones-polled economists had anticipated, according to CNBC, offering a small upside surprise for markets.
Shelter, a closely watched component for Fed policymakers, added 0.3% for the month, a slowdown from the 0.6% recorded in April. Food prices increased 0.2% in May. Grocery prices rose 0.1% while restaurant and other food-away-from-home costs rose 0.3%.