February 24, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

CPI up 0.1 percent in January

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), which was unchanged in December 2004, increased 0.1 percent in January 2005.

[Chart data—TXT]

The food index also increased 0.1 percent in January after registering no change in December. A 0.2-percent decrease in the index for food at home was more than offset by a 0.5-percent increase in the index for food away from home.

Energy costs declined 1.1 percent, following a 1.3-percent drop in December. Within energy, the index for petroleum-based energy declined 2.2 percent while the index for energy services rose 0.1 percent. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.2 percent in January, the same as in each of the preceding three months.

For the 12-month period ended in January, the CPI-U rose 3.0 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. For more information, see "Consumer Price Index: January 2005" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 05-304.