Aug gasoline price rise behind inflation jump: White House blog

17 Sep '23

1 min read

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Insights

US headline consumer price index inflation was 0.6 per cent in August this year and 3.7 per cent over the past year.
The key reason behind the jump was the 10.6 per cent rise in the price of retail gasoline in the month, according to a blog by the White House Council on Economic Affairs.
Core inflation rose by 0.3 per cent in August, continuing to decelerate.

US headline consumer price index (CPI) inflation was 0.6 per cent in August this year and 3.7 per cent over the past year. Both the rates were a step up from recent inflation reports, and the main factor behind the jump was the August increase in the price of retail gasoline, according to a blog by the White House Council on Economic Affairs.

The price of gasoline went up by 10.6 per cent over the month, and that contributed 34 basis points of the overall monthly CPI, or a bit more than half of the 0.6 per cent rate.

Core inflation in the month rose by 0.3 per cent, slightly above expectations of 0.2 per cent. Over the past three months, core CPI has risen by 2.4 per cent at an annual rate, down from 5 percent during the prior three-month period, and the lowest such rate since March 2021.

The blog notes that it is good to see core inflation continuing to decelerate, as this measure better captures the more persistent, underlying trend in inflation. Yet, even the core measure is not immune to the effects of energy prices.

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