China News Agency, Washington, February 14th. The US Department of Labor released data on the 14th showing that the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) in January 2023 rose by 0.5% month-on-month and 6.4% year-on-year.
This is the seventh consecutive month of decline in U.S. inflation data, but the general rise in prices in energy, food and other areas in early 2023 once again shows that inflationary pressures facing the U.S. economy remain stubborn.
The month-on-month data show that the prices of food, energy and transportation services in the United States all rebounded in January.
Food prices rose 0.5 percent, energy prices rose 2.0 percent and transport services prices rose 0.9 percent.
Among them, the rebound in gasoline prices is particularly obvious, from a decline of 7.0% in December last year to a rise of 2.4% in January this year.
Housing prices have become the main factor driving up prices in the United States, in addition to food and energy.
In January, U.S. home prices rose 7.9 percent year-over-year.
According to the analysis, this created the largest increase in U.S. housing prices since 1982 and also reflected the lagging effect of the surge in U.S. housing demand during the epidemic.
The Associated Press pointed out that although data show that U.S. inflation is weakening, this trend is likely to be slow and uneven.
Quarterly revised data showed U.S. CPI monthly increases in the fourth quarter of last year were higher than originally reported, suggesting that inflation was actually slowing at a much slower pace.
After excluding the volatile food and energy prices, the US core CPI in January rose 0.4% month-on-month and 5.6% year-on-year.
Both figures were unchanged from a month ago.
"The momentum of inflation relief is slowing down." The Wall Street Journal analyzed that January's inflation data may allow the Fed to continue raising interest rates in March.
And "recent public statements from Fed officials suggest that they are ready for a longer struggle than many investors expect".
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