U.S. inflation cooled at the start of the year as price pressures eased across several major categories, with underlying inflation reaching its softest level in nearly four years.
Energy costs provided much of the near-term relief, while longer-running drivers such as shelter continued a gradual slowdown.
The headline monthly inflation figure showed a 0.2% increase in U.S. consumer prices in January— one-tenth below consensus estimates — after a 0.3% rise in December, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report.
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 electricity.
Food prices overall rose 0.2% in January, compared to 0.7% in December. Grocery store prices also increased 0.2% for the month, versus a 0.6% climb previously, while restaurant prices edged up 0.1% after rising 0.7%.
Over the past year, food prices increased 2.9%, down from 3.1%. Grocery prices rose 2.1%, easing from 2.4%, while dining-out costs climbed 4.0%, down from 4.1%.
In other sectors, gasoline prices dropped 3.2% in January after a 0.3% decline in December. Year over year, they tumbled 7.5% after a 3.4% decrease.
The broader energy index, which includes gasoline, electricity, and fuel oil, fell 1.5% for the month after a 0.3% gain in December. Year over year, it was down 0.1% after a 2.3% increase previously.
Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the rate of core consumer prices rose 0.3% in January, as expected, after a 0.2% increase in December.
Shelter costs advanced 0.2% for the month after rising 0.4%. Over the past year, shelter prices increased 3.0%, down from an annual rate of 3.2% in December.
Annual shelter inflation has steadily eased from recent highs. For comparison, 12-month increases were:
- November 2025: 3.0%
- 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 0.3% for a second consecutive month and were 1.7% higher than a year earlier.
- New vehicle prices climbed 0.1% in January after being flat and were up 0.4% year over year.
- Used car and truck prices declined 1.8% for the month after falling 0.9% in December and were 2.0% lower than a year earlier.
- Airline fares rose 6.5% for the month following a 3.8% gain and were 2.2% higher than a year earlier.
For the headline annual rate, inflation rose 2.4% over the 12 months ending in January — one-tenth below expectations — the lowest since May 2025, and down from the 2.7% year-over-year increase in December.
Core inflation rose 2.5% over the year through January, as expected, the lowest since March 2021, and compares to December’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 help guide the central bank’s interest-rate decisions.
The following table of key inflation figures is for the last seven months through January, as published by the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov/cpi) on February 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.
July 2025 to January 2026 Consumer Prices – Gains & Losses in Percent
(Seasonally Adjusted from Prior Month and Unadjusted 12-Month)
| July 2025 | Aug 2025 | Sep 2025 | Oct 2025* | Nov 2025* | Dec 2025 | Jan 2026 | 12 Month | |
| All items | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | – | – | 0.3 | 0.2 | 2.4 |
| Food | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | – | – | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.9 |
| Food at home | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | – | – | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.1 |
| Food away from home | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | – | – | 0.7 | 0.1 | 4.0 |
| Energy | -0.6 | 0.7 | 1.4 | – | – | 0.3 | -1.5 | -0.1 |
| Energy commodities | -1.1 | 1.6 | 3.4 | – | – | -0.3 | -3.3 | -7.3 |
| Gasoline (all types) | -1.2 | 1.6 | 3.6 | -1.3 | 2.7 | -0.3 | -3.2 | -7.5 |
| Fuel oil | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | – | – | -0.8 | -5.7 | -4.2 |
| Energy services | -0.2 | -0.2 | -0.4 | – | – | 1.0 | 0.2 | 7.2 |
| Electricity | 0.0 | 0.2 | -0.3 | – | – | 0.2 | -0.1 | 6.3 |
| Utility (piped) gas service | -0.6 | -1.2 | -0.9 | – | – | 3.7 | 1.0 | 9.8 |
| All items less food, energy | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | – | – | 0.2 | 0.3 | 2.5 |
| Commodities less food, energy | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | – | – | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.1 |
| New vehicles | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Used cars and trucks | 0.5 | 0.8 | -0.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | -0.9 | -1.8 | -2.0 |
| Apparel | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.5 | – | – | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.7 |
| Medical care | 0.1 | -0.3 | -0.1 | – | – | 0.3 | -0.1 | 0.3 |
| Services less energy | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | – | – | 0.3 | 0.4 | 2.9 |
| Shelter | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | – | – | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.0 |
| Transportation | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.3 | – | – | 0.4 | 1.4 | 1.3 |
| Medical care | 0.8 | -0.1 | 0.2 | – | – | 0.4 | 0.3 | 3.9 |
*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 February and the latest annual period will be made public on March 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.
