July 19, 2004 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

CPI in June

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.3 percent in June 2004, following a 0.6-percent increase in May.

[Chart data—TXT]

Energy costs, which advanced 4.6 percent in May, rose 2.6 percent in June and accounted for two-thirds of the increase in the overall CPI-U. Within energy, the index for petroleum-based energy increased 3.0 percent and the index for energy services rose 2.1 percent.

The index for food, which rose 0.9 percent in May, increased 0.2 percent in June. The index for all items less food and energy, which increased 0.2 percent in May, rose 0.1 percent in June.

Consumer prices increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 4.8 percent in the second quarter after advancing at a 5.1-percent rate in the first three months of 2004. This brings the year-to-date annual rate to 4.9 percent and compares with an increase of 1.9 percent in all of 2003. 

The index for energy, which rose 6.9 percent in 2003, accelerated in the first half of 2004 to a 36.0-percent SAAR and accounted for about half of the advance in the overall CPI-U during the first six months of 2004. The food index rose at a 3.2-percent SAAR in the first half of 2004.

The CPI-U excluding food and energy advanced at a 2.3-percent SAAR in the second quarter, following an increase at a 2.9-percent rate in the first three months of 2004. The advance at a 2.6-percent SAAR for the first half of 2004 compares with a 1.1-percent rise in all of 2003.

For the 12-month period ended in June, the CPI-U rose 3.3 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. For more information, see Consumer Price Index: June 2004 (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 04-1308.