U.S. inflation picked up in May, with consumer prices rising for the month and the annual rate reaching its highest level since April 2023. Higher gasoline and energy costs drove much of the monthly gain, while food prices advanced more slowly, shelter costs moderated from April, and core inflation came in slightly cooler than expected.
The headline monthly inflation figure showed U.S. consumer prices climbed 0.5% in May, matching consensus estimates, after advancing 0.6% in April, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The CPI, a key inflation gauge, measures what American consumers pay for a broad range of goods and services, from eggs to energy.
Food prices advanced 0.2% in May, slowing from a 0.5% gain in April. Grocery store prices edged up 0.1% for the month, following a 0.7% advance, while restaurant prices moved 0.3% higher after two straight 0.2% monthly gains.
Over the past year, overall food prices climbed 3.1%, down from 3.2% previously. Grocery prices advanced 2.7%, compared with 2.9% before, while dining-out costs rose 3.5%, down from 3.6%.
Energy prices remained a major driver. Gasoline jumped 7.0% in May after a 5.4% April gain. From a year earlier, gasoline prices were up 40.5%, compared with 28.4% previously.
The broader energy index, which includes gasoline, electricity and fuel oil, advanced 3.9% in May after moving up 3.8% in April.
“The energy index accounted for over sixty percent of the monthly all items increase,” the report noted.
Compared with a year earlier, the energy index climbed 23.5%, up from the prior 17.9% annual gain.
Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the core consumer prices picked up 0.2% in May, one-tenth less than expected, after increasing 0.4% in April — the largest monthly gain since January 2025.
Shelter costs rose 0.3% in May, half April’s 0.6% pace. From a year earlier, shelter prices were up 3.4%, compared with 3.3% previously.
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 climbed 0.3% in May after a 0.6% April gain and were 4.8% higher than a year earlier.
- New vehicle prices declined 0.3% for the month after slipping 0.2% in April, leaving them 0.2% higher year over year.
- Used car and truck prices edged up 0.1% in May after being unchanged in April and were 2.0% lower than a year earlier.
- Airline fares jumped 2.7% in May after a 2.8% April advance and were 26.7% higher year over year.
For the headline annual rate, inflation rose 4.2% over the 12 months ending in May, the highest since April 2023, when it was 4.9%, and in line with expectations. It followed a 3.8% annual increase in April.
Core inflation climbed 2.9% over the year through May, the highest since September and in line with expectations, up from 2.8% in April.
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 help guide the central bank’s interest-rate decisions.
The following table of key inflation figures is for the last seven months through May, as published by the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov/cpi) on June 10, 2026. To compile 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.
November 2025 to May 2026 Consumer Prices – Gains & Losses in Percent
(Seasonally Adjusted from Prior Month and Unadjusted 12-Month)
| Nov 2025* | Dec 2025 | Jan 2026 | Feb 2026 | March 2026 | April 2026 | May 2026 | 12 Month | |
| All items | – | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 4.2 |
| Food | – | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 3.1 |
| Food at home | – | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | -0.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 2.7 |
| Food away from home | – | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 3.5 |
| Energy | – | 0.3 | -1.5 | 0.6 | 10.9 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 23.5 |
| Energy commodities | – | -0.3 | -3.3 | 1.1 | 21.3 | 5.6 | 6.7 | 40.6 |
| Gasoline (all types) | 2.7 | -0.3 | -3.2 | 0.8 | 21.2 | 5.4 | 7.0 | 40.5 |
| Fuel oil | – | -0.8 | -5.7 | 11.1 | 30.7 | 5.8 | 3.8 | 58.9 |
| Energy services | – | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 5.3 |
| Electricity | – | 0.2 | -0.1 | -0.7 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 5.9 |
| Utility (piped) gas service | – | 3.7 | 1.0 | 3.1 | -0.9 | -0.1 | -0.5 | 3.0 |
| All items less food, energy | – | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.9 |
| Commodities less food, energy | – | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -0.1 | 1.1 |
| New vehicles | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -0.2 | -0.3 | 0.2 |
| Used cars and trucks | 0.1 | -0.9 | -1.8 | -0.4 | -0.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -2.0 |
| Apparel | – | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 4.8 |
| Medical care | – | 0.3 | -0.1 | 0.0 | -1.0 | -0.4 | -0.7 | -1.8 |
| Services less energy | – | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 3.4 |
| Shelter | – | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 3.4 |
| Transportation | – | 0.4 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.3 | -0.6 | 4.1 |
| Medical care | – | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 3.6 |
*In 2025, pricing information for 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 June and the latest annual period will be made public on July 14, 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.
