United States Core Inflation Rates (1957-2024)

The annual core inflation rate for the 12 months ending in February was 3.8%, compared to the previous 3.9% rate, according to a report released by the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on March 12, 2024.

Core inflation is an important economic indicator that measures the long-term trend in inflation, by excluding volatile items such as food and energy, which can experience price fluctuations due to temporary or seasonal factors. (Read more about core inflation.) By removing these volatile items, core inflation provides a clearer picture of underlying inflationary pressures in an economy.

Core inflation is monitored alongside headline inflation, which measures changes in the prices of all goods and services in an economy. The headline inflation rate is typically more volatile than core inflation due to the impact of food and energy prices, which can fluctuate greatly in response to changes in supply and demand.

While headline inflation provides important information about short-term fluctuations in the economy, core inflation is generally more reliable indicator of the long-term trend in inflation.

As a point of reference, inflation data is included in the monthly consumer price reports from the BLS (www.bls.gov/cpi). These reports provide various rates of inflation, such as those for headline inflation which is described as all items and core inflation which is noted as all items less food and energy. This chart shows the rates for both, 12-month based, since 2014:

Overall, monitoring both core inflation and headline inflation is crucial for understanding the overall health of an economy and making informed policy decisions to maintain price stability and promote economic growth.

This next chart displays year-over-year pricing changes for several major categories that are tracked in core inflation.

This chart shows core inflation annually by calendar year over the last decade. The data provides a ten-year overview of core inflation trends.

*The final column in the chart always displays the latest inflation data based on a 12-month period.

Table: Core Inflation Rates by Month and Year

Below is a table displaying core rates of inflation since 1958. Since the figures represent 12-month periods, core inflation rates by calendar year can be found in the December column. For instance, the core inflation rate for 2023 was 3.9%. Meanwhile, the "Ave" column shows the average core rate for each year, which was 4.8% in 2023.

Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Ave
1958 3.2 3.2 2.8 2.4 2.4 2.1 2.4 2.1 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 2.4
1959 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.4 2.7 2.0 2.0 2.0
1960 2.0 2.3 2.0 2.0 1.7 1.7 1.3 1.3 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.3
1961 1.0 0.7 0.7 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.3 1.3 1.6 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3
1962 1.3 1.3 1.6 1.3 1.6 1.6 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3
1963 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.3 1.0 1.3 1.3 1.6 1.3 1.3 1.6 1.6 1.3
1964 1.9 1.9 1.9 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 0.9 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.6
1965 1.6 1.6 1.2 1.6 1.6 1.2 1.2 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.2 1.5 1.2
1966 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.4 2.8 3.1 3.0 3.3 3.6 3.3 2.4
1967 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.6 3.5 3.5 3.8 3.6
1968 4.1 4.1 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.6 4.9 4.9 4.9 4.8 5.1 5.1 4.6
1969 5.1 5.3 5.6 6.1 6.1 5.8 5.8 5.8 6.0 6.0 5.9 6.2 5.8
1970 6.2 6.1 6.1 5.8 6.0 6.5 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.4 6.6 6.6 6.3
1971 6.3 5.8 5.2 5.0 5.2 4.9 4.9 4.6 4.4 3.8 3.3 3.1 4.7
1972 3.1 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.1 2.8 2.8 3.3 2.8 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
1973 2.8 2.8 3.0 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.8 4.3 4.5 4.7 3.6
1974 4.9 5.4 5.8 6.2 6.8 7.9 8.8 9.6 10.2 10.6 11.2 11.1 8.3
1975 11.5 11.7 11.4 11.3 10.5 9.6 9.1 8.2 7.7 7.0 6.8 6.7 9.1
1976 6.7 6.5 6.6 6.4 6.5 6.5 6.7 6.8 6.8 6.7 6.5 6.1 6.5
1977 6.3 6.3 6.2 6.3 6.3 6.6 6.3 6.2 6.2 6.0 5.9 6.5 6.3
1978 6.4 6.2 6.3 6.5 6.8 7.0 7.4 7.5 7.9 8.4 8.7 8.5 7.4
1979 8.6 9.2 9.3 9.3 9.4 9.3 9.6 10.0 9.9 10.1 10.6 11.3 9.8
1980 12.0 12.0 12.5 13.0 13.3 13.6 12.4 11.8 12.0 12.3 12.1 12.2 12.4
1981 11.4 10.9 10.0 9.5 9.5 9.4 11.1 11.6 11.8 10.9 10.2 9.5 10.4
1982 9.3 9.1 8.8 8.9 8.7 8.6 7.6 7.1 5.9 5.9 5.3 4.5 7.4
1983 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.3 3.6 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.5 3.7 4.3 4.8 4.0
1984 4.8 4.8 5.0 5.0 5.2 5.1 5.0 5.1 5.1 4.9 4.6 4.7 5.0
1985 4.5 4.7 4.8 4.5 4.5 4.4 4.2 4.1 4.0 4.1 4.4 4.3 4.3
1986 4.4 4.2 4.1 4.2 4.0 4.0 4.1 4.0 4.1 4.0 3.8 3.8 4.0
1987 3.8 3.8 4.0 4.2 4.2 4.1 4.0 4.2 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.2 4.1
1988 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.5 4.5 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.4 4.7 4.4
1989 4.6 4.8 4.7 4.6 4.6 4.5 4.6 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.4 4.5
1990 4.4 4.6 4.9 4.8 4.8 4.9 5.0 5.5 5.5 5.3 5.3 5.2 5.0
1991 5.6 5.6 5.2 5.1 5.1 5.0 4.8 4.6 4.5 4.4 4.5 4.4 4.9
1992 3.9 3.8 3.9 3.9 3.8 3.8 3.7 3.5 3.3 3.5 3.4 3.3 3.7
1993 3.5 3.6 3.4 3.5 3.4 3.3 3.2 3.3 3.2 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3
1994 2.9 2.8 2.9 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.9 2.9 3.0 2.9 2.8 2.6 2.8
1995 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.1 3.1 3.0 3.0 2.9 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
1996 3.0 2.9 2.8 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.7
1997 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.7 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.4
1998 2.2 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.5 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3
1999 2.4 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.0 2.1 2.1 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.1 1.9 2.1
2000 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.4
2001 2.6 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.8 2.7 2.6
2002 2.6 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.3 2.2 2.4 2.2 2.2 2.0 1.9 2.4
2003 1.9 1.7 1.7 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.4
2004 1.1 1.2 1.6 1.8 1.7 1.9 1.8 1.7 2.0 2.0 2.2 2.2 1.8
2005 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.2
2006 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.5
2007 2.7 2.7 2.5 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.3
2008 2.5 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.2 2.0 1.8 2.3
2009 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.7
2010 1.6 1.3 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.8 0.8 1.0
2011 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.2 1.7
2012 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.1 1.9 2.0 2.0 1.9 1.9 2.1
2013 1.9 2.0 1.9 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.8
2014 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.8 2.0 1.9 1.9 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.7
2015 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.1 1.8
2016 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.2
2017 2.3 2.2 2.0 1.9 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.8 1.8
2018 1.8 1.8 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.1
2019 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.2
2020 2.3 2.4 2.1 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.7
2021 1.4 1.3 1.6 3.0 3.8 4.5 4.3 4.0 4.0 4.6 4.9 5.5 3.6
2022 6.0 6.4 6.5 6.2 6.0 5.9 5.9 6.3 6.6 6.3 6.0 5.7 6.2
2023 5.6 5.5 5.6 5.5 5.3 4.8 4.7 4.3 4.1 4.0 4.0 3.9 4.8
2024 3.9 3.8 Avail.
April
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As shown in the table above, the annual core inflation rate reached its highest level in June 1980, when it climbed to 13.6%. This was part of a broader period of high inflation in the United States, which lasted throughout much of the 1970s and early 1980s.