Consumer Price Index

Submitted by Andrew Duguay Duguay on Mon, 02/22/2010 - 09:24

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to a 15-month high in January.  The cause for alarm may not seem so pertinent when you take out food and energy costs.  Core CPI barely rose at all.  However, food and energy are important factors when considering long-term inflation and with oil prices trending upward, the problems of controlling inflation become very real. 

 

Energy prices spiked 2.8% in the month of January and gasoline rose 4.4%.  These numbers will fluctuate from month to month, but there is no denying the overall rising trend in CPI recently.  The CPI has risen in 11 of the past 13 months. We at ITR will be watching this trend carefully for future signs of inflation as the economy recovers in 2010.