January 17, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Consumer Price Index up 4.1 percent in 2007

For the 12-month period ended in December 2007, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 4.1 percent. This compares with an increase of 2.5 percent in 2006.

[Chart data—TXT]

The index for energy, which advanced at annual rates of 22.9 and 32.9 percent in the first two quarters, declined at a 14.8-percent rate in the third quarter, and turned back up in the fourth quarter, advancing at a 37.1-percent annual rate. Overall energy costs rose 17.4 percent in 2007 with the index for petroleum-based energy costs (energy commodities) up 29.4 percent and charges for energy services (gas and electricity) up 3.4 percent. 

The food index, which rose 2.1 percent in all of 2006, advanced 4.9 percent in 2007, its largest increase since a 5.3-percent rise in 1990. Grocery store food prices increased 5.6 percent in 2007, reflecting acceleration over the last year in each of the six major groups. These increases ranged from 3.2 percent in the index for other food items at home to 13.4 percent in the index for dairy products. 

Excluding food and energy, the CPI-U advanced 2.4 percent in 2007, following an increase of 2.6 percent in 2006. 

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Consumer Price Index: December 2007" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 08-0062.