U.S. consumer prices were unchanged in November, as declines in energy and food costs offset increases in airline fares and medical care.
The Associated Press reports that the flat reading for consumer prices last month followed a modest 0.2% increase in October and outright declines in August and September, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, was up 0.2% in November.
Over the past year, overall inflation has risen 0.5% while core inflation is up 2%. The 12-month gain in core inflation, while modest, is still the fastest in more than a year, since a similar 2% rise for the 12 months ending in May 2014. That could be used by the Federal Reserve as justification for the first interest rate hike in nearly a decade.
Overall energy costs fell 1.3% in November, led by a 2.4% drop in gasoline pump prices, the third decline in gasoline costs in the past four months.
Nationwide gas prices now stand at $2.01 per gallon, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge. That is down from $2.56 a year ago. In some parts of the country, gas is already below $2 per gallon.
Food costs retreated 0.1% in November, the first monthly decline since March. Meanwhile, prices rose in some categories. Medical care climbed 0.4%, and airline fares grew 1.2%.
Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the increase in medical costs reflected in part a jump in the cost of health insurance, with premiums up 3.6% over the past 12 months, compared to a 1% drop in premium costs for the 12 months ending in November 2014.
The Associated Press has the full story.
