August 15, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Consumer Price Index in July

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) advanced 0.8 percent in July 2008, following a 1.1-percent increase in June. The index for energy rose sharply for the third straight month, increasing 4.0 percent in July and accounting for about half of the overall increase in the all items index.

[Chart data—TXT]

The food index rose 0.9 percent in July after rising 0.8 percent in June. The index for food at home rose 1.2 percent in July after rising 1.0 percent in June. Indexes for five of the six major grocery store food groups rose at least 1.0 percent in July.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.3 percent in July, the second straight such increase. The indexes for apparel and for recreation increased more sharply than in June, but the indexes for shelter and medical care rose more slowly.

For the 12 months ended in July 2008, the CPI-U rose 5.6 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Consumer Price Index: July 2008," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 08-1144.