U.S. inflation remained relatively steady in December, based on a government report released Tuesday, January 13, with consumer prices increasing at a pace that generally aligned with expectations or came in slightly below.
Shelter, grocery, and restaurant prices were among the larger gainers, while gasoline and used car prices declined.
The headline monthly inflation figure showed a 0.3% increase in U.S. consumer prices for December, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, in line with consensus estimates. Last year’s government shutdown prevented the collection of some data, leaving no monthly readout for November. Instead, the report showed prices increased 0.2% across October and November.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a key inflation gauge, measures what American consumers pay for a wide range of everyday goods and services, from eggs to energy.
Food prices overall rose 0.7% in December, with grocery store prices and restaurant prices each up 0.7%.
Over the past year, food prices increased 3.1%, up from 2.6%. Grocery prices rose 2.4%, compared to 1.9% previously, while dining-out costs climbed 4.1%, up from 3.7%.
In other sectors, gasoline prices declined 0.5% in December after a 3% increase in November. Year over year, they fell 3.4% after rising 0.9% previously.
The broader energy index, which includes gasoline, electricity, and fuel oil, advanced 0.3% for the month. Year over year, it was up 2.3% after a 4.2% gain previously.
Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the rate of core consumer prices rose 0.2% in December, one-tenth below expectations, after a 0.2% increase across the two-month period ending in November.
Shelter costs advanced 0.4% for the month. Over the past year, shelter prices increased 3.2%, up from an annual rate of 3% in November.
Annual shelter inflation has steadily eased from recent highs. For comparison, 12-month increases were:
- October 2025: Unavailable
- September 2025: 3.6%
- August 2025: 3.6%
- July 2025: 3.7%
- June 2025: 3.8%
- May 2025: 3.9%
- April 2025: 4.0%
- March 2025: 4.0%
- February 2025: 4.2%
- January 2025: 4.4%
- December 2024: 4.6%
- November 2024: 4.7%
- October 2024: 4.9%
- September 2024: 4.9%
- August 2024: 5.2%
- July 2024: 5.1%
- June 2024: 5.2%
- May 2024: 5.4%
- April 2024: 5.5%
- March 2024: 5.7%
- February 2024: 5.7%
- January 2024: 6.0%
- December 2023: 6.2%
- November 2023: 6.5%
- October 2023: 6.7%
- September 2023: 7.2%
- August 2023: 7.3%
- July 2023: 7.7%
- June 2023: 7.8%
- May 2023: 8.0%
- April 2023: 8.1%
- March 2023: 8.2% – the highest since June 1982
The shelter component of the CPI includes prices for items such as apartment rents, owners’ equivalent rent – a measure of what homeowners would pay to rent or earn from renting their property – lodging away from home like hotels and motels, and housing at schools.
In other key pricing categories:
- Clothing prices rose 0.6% in December and were also 0.6% higher than a year earlier.
- New vehicle prices were flat for the month after a 0.2% increase in November and were up 0.3% year over year.
- Used car and truck prices fell 1.1% in December after a 0.3% gain in November and were 1.6% higher than a year earlier.
- Airline fares jumped 5.2% for the month but were 3.4% lower than a year earlier.
For the headline annual rate, inflation rose 2.7% over the 12 months ending in December, matching expectations and the 2.7% year-over-year increase in November.
Core inflation rose 2.6% over the year through December, one-tenth below expectations, and unchanged from November’s 2.6% year-over-year increase.
This core, "all items less food and energy" index, is one of the benchmark inflation rates monitored by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to guide the central bank in setting its key interest rate.
The following table of key inflation figures is for the last seven months through December, as published by the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov/cpi) on January 13, 2026. To index the data each month, the BLS monitors the prices of about 80,000 consumer goods and services from around the nation. All monthly and annual pricing changes are in percentages.
June 2024 to December 2025 Consumer Prices – Gains & Losses in Percent
(Seasonally Adjusted from Prior Month and Unadjusted 12-Month)
| June 2025 | July 2025 | Aug 2025 | Sep 2025 | Oct 2025* | Nov 2025* | Dec 2025 | 12 Month | |
| All items | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | – | – | 0.3 | 2.7 |
| Food | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | – | – | 0.7 | 3.1 |
| Food at home | 0.3 | -0.1 | 0.6 | 0.3 | – | – | 0.7 | 2.4 |
| Food away from home | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | – | – | 0.7 | 4.1 |
| Energy | 0.9 | -1.1 | 0.7 | 1.5 | – | – | 0.3 | 2.3 |
| Energy commodities | 1.0 | -1.9 | 1.7 | 3.8 | – | – | -0.4 | -3.0 |
| Gasoline (all types) | 1.0 | -2.2 | 1.9 | 4.1 | -2.1 | 3.0 | -0.5 | -3.4 |
| Fuel oil | 1.3 | 1.8 | -0.3 | 0.6 | – | – | -1.5 | 7.4 |
| Energy services | 0.9 | -0.3 | -0.2 | -0.7 | – | – | 1.0 | 7.7 |
| Electricity | 1.0 | -0.1 | 0.2 | -0.5 | – | – | -0.1 | 6.7 |
| Utility (piped) gas service | 0.5 | -0.9 | -1.6 | -1.2 | – | – | 4.4 | 10.8 |
| All items less food, energy | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | – | – | 0.2 | 2.6 |
| Commodities less food, energy | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | – | – | 0.0 | 1.4 |
| New vehicles | -0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Used cars and trucks | -0.7 | 0.5 | 1.0 | -0.4 | 0.7 | 0.3 | -1.1 | 1.6 |
| Apparel | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.7 | – | – | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Medical care | 0.1 | 0.1 | -0.3 | -0.1 | – | – | 0.3 | 1.5 |
| Services less energy | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | – | – | 0.3 | 3.0 |
| Shelter | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | – | – | 0.4 | 3.2 |
| Transportation | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.3 | – | – | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Medical care | 0.6 | 0.8 | -0.1 | 0.3 | – | – | 0.4 | 3.5 |
*In 2025, pricing information for October and November was limited because a lapse in appropriations halted data collection, leaving typical month-over-month changes unavailable.
The BLS releases inflation data around the middle of the month, covering consumer prices surveyed up to the previous month. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January and the latest annual period will be made public on February 11, 2026.
The CPI data is also used to calculate inflation rates and power this site’s U.S. Inflation Calculator, which displays the cumulative inflation and the change in the buying power of the U.S. dollar over time.
