January 18, 2001 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Consumer prices up 0.2 percent in December

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.2 percent in December, the same as in each of the preceding two months.

[Chart data—TXT]

The food index advanced 0.5 percent in December, following a 0.1-percent increase in October and no change in November. The energy index rose 0.2 percent in December, following increases of 0.2 and 0.1 percent in October and November, respectively. In December, the index for petroleum-based energy declined 1.4 percent, while the index for energy services advanced 1.8 percent.

Excluding food and energy, the CPI-U rose 0.1 percent in December after advancing 0.2 percent in October and 0.3 percent in November.

For the 12-month period ended in December, the CPI-U rose 3.4 percent. This compares with an increase of 2.7 percent for all of 1999. 

These data are a product of the BLS Consumer Price Index program. Find out more in Consumer Price Indexes, December 2000, news release USDL 01-18.