Inflation in the U.S. continued unabated in February, with the Consumer Price Index increasing nearly 8% from a year earlier, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.8% in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 0.6% in January, the report states. Over the last 12 months, the “all items” index increased 7.9% before seasonal adjustment.
That year-over-year increase has been steadily rising and is now the largest since the period ending January 1982, the bureau said.
Increases in the indexes for gasoline, shelter, and food were the largest contributors to the seasonally adjusted all-items increase, the bureau said. The gasoline index rose 6.6% in February and accounted for almost a third of the all-items monthly increase; other energy component indexes were mixed. The food index rose 1% as the food at home index rose 1.4%; both were the largest monthly increases since April 2020, just after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.5% in February, following a 0.6% increase in January. The shelter index was by far the biggest factor in the increase, rising 0.5% and accounting for over 40% of the monthly increase. The rent index increased 0.6% in February, and the owners’ equivalent rent index rose 0.4%. The index for lodging away from home rose 2.2% over the month after declining in January.
In addition to shelter, a broad set of indexes also contributed to the increase in the index for all items less food and energy, including those for recreation, household furnishings, and operations, motor vehicle insurance, personal care, and airline fares.
The unadjusted all items index less food and energy for the year rose 6.4%, the largest 12-month change since the period ending August 1982. The energy index rose 25.6% over the last year, while the food index increased 7.9%, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending July 1981.
For the energy index, all major energy component indexes increased. The index for gasoline rose 38% over the last year, while the index for natural gas rose 23.8%. The index for electricity rose 9% for the 12 months ending February.
The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to hold a two-day meeting beginning next Tuesday and is expected to take steps to try to rein in inflation, including an expected quarter-point increase to the federal funds rate.
