WASHINGTON: US consumer inflation cooled slightly in January but the figure remains markedly above policymakers’ target, boosted by rent and energy costs, Labor Department data showed on Tuesday.
The consumer price index (CPI), a key gauge of inflation, has come down from a blistering 9.1 percent peak last June while the central bank embarked on an aggressive campaign to rein in soaring prices.
As households were squeezed by decades-high inflation, the Federal Reserve raised the benchmark lending rate eight times over the past year, attempting to dampen demand and slow the pace of price increases.
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With the effects of policy rippling through the economy, the CPI rose 6.4 percent in January from a year ago – just a touch below December’s figure and the smallest annual increase since October 2021.
But it remains significantly above policymakers’ two percent target.
From December to January, CPI rose 0.5 percent, picking up from 0.1 percent in December and signaling the Fed’s battle is not yet over.
“The index for shelter was by far the largest contributor… accounting for nearly half of the monthly all items increase,” said the report on Tuesday.
It added that the indexes for food and gasoline also contributed.
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