US headline CPI picks up slightly in November
The cost of living in the States picked up slightly last month as food and vehicles became dearer, although increases in shelter prices eased.
According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms, both the headline and core Consumer Price Index rose by 0.3% month-on-month in November.
Those increases were in line with the median forecast of economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
In annual terms however they sufficed for headline CPI to rise from 3.2% for October to 3.3% this time around.
Core CPI on the other hand was steady at 2.7%.
Food prices gained 0.4% versus October, following a 0.2% rise during the prior month.
New vehicle prices meanwhile jumped by 0.6% after a flat reading in the month before.
Used car and truck prices vaulted 2.0% higher.
The rate of increase in shelter prices however slipped lower again, from 0.4% to 0.3%.
"The 0.31% m/m increase in core CPI in November, which left the annual core inflation rate unchanged at 3.3% for a fourth month in a row and pushed the three-month annualised rate up to an eight-month high of 3.7%, is a little disconcerting," said Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics.
"Although OER has a smaller weight in the Fed’s preferred PCE inflation measure, it still helps to explain why, at least before the PPI data is released tomorrow, we estimate that the core PCE deflator will increase by a target-consistent 0.17% m/m in November. As a result, for now at least, we remain comfortable forecasting another 25bp rate cut by the Fed next week."
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