U.S. Inflation remains high even with 0.2% decline in August

Consumer Price Index for all items rises 0.1%, with cost increases in food, medical care, shelter the largest contributors.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) Summary early Tuesday morning, showing that the CPI for all items rose 0.1% in August after being unchanged in July.

Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 8.3 percent before seasonal adjustment.

“Increases in shelter, food, and medical care indexes were the largest of many contributors to the broad-based monthly all items increase,” BLS reported.  “These increases were mostly offset by a 10.6-percent decline in the gasoline index. The food index continued to rise, increasing 0.8 percent over the month as the food at home index rose 0.7 percent.”

BLS says the energy index fell 5% over the month as the gas index declined but the electricity and natural gas indexes increased.

Also, the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6% in August, a larger increase than in July.

“The indexes for shelter, medical care, household furnishings and operations, new vehicles, motor vehicle insurance, and education were among those that increased over the month,” BLS goes on to report.  “There were some indexes that declined in August, including those for airline fares, communication, and used cars and trucks.”

As for inflation, BLS says the all items index increased 8.3% for the 12 months ending August, a smaller figure than the 8.5% increase for the period ending July.

“The all items less food and energy index rose 6.3 percent over the last 12 months. The energy index increased 23.8 percent for the 12 months ending August, a smaller increase than the 32.9-percent increase for the period ending July. The food index increased 11.4 percent over the last year, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending May 1979,” BLS stated.