January 19, 2006 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

CPI up 3.4 percent in 2005

For the 12-month period ended in December 2005, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 3.4 percent. This compares with an increase of 3.3 percent in 2004.

Percent change from 12 months ago, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, not seasonally adjusted, December 1996-December 2005
[Chart data—TXT]

In 2005, the index for energy rose 17.1 percent, following a 16.6-percent increase in 2004, and accounted for about 40 percent of the overall advance in the CPI-U.

The food index, which rose 2.7 percent in 2004, increased 2.3 percent in 2005. The index for food at home rose 1.7 percent in 2005, following a 2.4-percent increase in 2004. Smaller increases in the indexes for fruits and vegetables and for dairy products were largely responsible for the moderation.

Excluding food and energy, the CPI-U advanced 2.2 percent for all of 2005, the same as in 2004.

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Consumer Price Index: December 2005" (PDF) (TXT), news release USDL 06-84.

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