CPI Index in January came in higher than expected

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.1 percent for the 12 months ending in January, according to the newest summary released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

That is slightly lower than the 3.4 percent increase over the prior 12 months ending in December 2023, but the numbers included in the report overall were higher than the consensus projections, including a Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) that rose by 0.3 percent in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, higher than the 0.2 percent rise in December.

The CPI minus food and energy rose 3.9 percent for the 12 months, ending in January, the same increase as the 12 months ending in December.

Oxford Economics (OE) noted that while the CPI rose “more than either we or the consensus expected in January … a single month will not significantly rattle the Federal Reserve’s confidence in the near-term inflation outlook.”

That is leading OE to stick with its prediction that t