On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) advanced 0.2 percent in January, following an increase of 0.4 percent in December, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
Energy costs, which increased 4.2 percent in December, declined 1.5 percent in January. Within energy, the index for petroleum-based energy fell 3.1 percent, while the index for energy services rose 0.5 percent.
The food index rose 0.7 percent in January, its largest advance since a 0.8 percent increase in April 2005. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.3 percent in January, following a 0.1 percent rise in December; an increase in the index for medical care accounted for about 60 percent of the acceleration.
For the 12 months ended in January 2007, the CPI-U rose 2.1 percent, as shown in the chart.
This data is from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Consumer Price Index: January 2007," news release USDL 07-0281.
Effective with this release, index levels are now published to three decimal places. Percent changes based on these three-decimal place indexes will continue to be published to one decimal place.
