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US inflation pushed by food and fuel prices increases 0.4% in January

Friday, February 18th 2011 - 05:13 UTC
Full article 3 comments
Airline fares increased for the fifth month in a row Airline fares increased for the fifth month in a row

United States prices rose 0.4% in January compared with the previous month, mostly due to rising food and fuel prices. The rate of change was the same as seen in December.

The Consumer Price Index rose by 1.6% over the last year, before seasonal adjustment, the Department of Labour said. The core rate of inflation, which strips out food and energy costs, rose by 0.2% - the largest rise in more than a year.

This measure has increased by 1% over the last 12 months, still within the Federal Reserve's effective target of closer to 2%.

In January US food prices increased by 0.5% with the food-at-home index increasing by 0.7%, the largest gain since 2008.

And airline fares increased for the fifth month in a row, rising 2.2% in January, as carriers faced higher fuel costs.

However, the data showed that some goods and services were getting cheaper - including the price of both new and used cars, hotel rates and computer equipment.

“With the unemployment rate still at 9%, there will be plenty of downward pressure on underlying prices and so we don't expect core inflation to trend upwards,” said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics.

Earlier this week the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve January meeting showed that board members are increasingly confident about the economic recovery but remains unsatisfied with the healing of the job market.

Meantime inflation is also causing concern in Europe with the Euro-zone's annual inflation rate rising to 2.4% in January, up from December's figure of 2.2%. The European Central Bank's inflation target is just below 2%.

In the UK, the Consumer Prices Index annual inflation rate rose to 4% in January, up from 3.7% in December.

Earlier on Thursday, Andrew Sentance, a member of the Bank of England's rate-setting panel, warned in a speech that the Bank was underestimating inflationary pressures in the UK economy.
 

Categories: Economy, United States.

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  • NicoDin

    According with the American media (What is the most serious in the world) inflation is 97%.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC0eIBge7eA&feature=player_embedded

    Feb 18th, 2011 - 11:33 am 0
  • mastershakejb

    Yea, US inflation is MUCH higher than what the gov is stating. But the US doesn't want to raise entitlement pay (social security disability/veteran disability, etc) because their deficit is already extraordinary, so they are playing with the numbers.

    Feb 18th, 2011 - 02:41 pm 0
  • NicoDin

    @mastershakejb

    Of course they are playing with the numbers but that isn’t new or from Obama’s Govt.
    This is coming from the ’70.

    Here and example to show the lies and how the media contribute to this:

    Will the US unemployment rate average less than 9% in 2011. The Economist who makes think to people that people without jobs is only 9%. 14th Dec 2010 (pay attention to the date).
    http://www.economist.com/economist-asks/will_us_unemployment_rate_average_less_9_2011
    December U-3 reported by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics was 9.4% so they gentlemanly reduced 0.4% coincidence perhaps?

    But this is not the real Unemployment in US even the official that has 5 point less than the reality.

    U-6 (total Unemployment) reported by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics was 16.7%.

    But what is the real Unemployment in US before the hair cuts made by the Bureau of Statistics and later for the media?
    21,2%

    Here the official US numbers http://www.economist.com/economist-asks/will_us_unemployment_rate_average_less_9_2011 after their cut.

    Use the same criteria for all numbers of US statistic and nothing is real like the inflation reported, the GDP, etc.

    But the Economist and GP Morgan don’t trust Argentina’s numbers but yes US numbers, Give me a break I think Greece had better statistic than US Imagine what is UK and Italy. Haha

    Feb 19th, 2011 - 06:11 am 0
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