The Labor Department shared on Tuesday that the inflation rate cooled to 7.1% in November, coming in lower than the 7.3% economists were forecasting.
On top of falling inflation, the consumer price index in November only rose by 0.1% year-over-year, as the cost of everyday goods like gas, rent, and food continued to climb. However, this was also below the 0.3% that experts were predicting.
Experts like Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjanci have shared that with costs rising less than expected, the Federal Reserve could ease off the pedal of its interest rate hikes.
“The Fed will take some comfort in the sharper than expected deceleration in consumer inflation, however, the rate remains still too high, and services inflation sticky,” Bostjancic told Fox News. “And with wage growth running above 5% year over year, the Fed will continue to be concerned about wage-price spirals. Rate cuts are not anywhere in the near-term horizon.”
Another good sign for the economy was the slowed growth of core prices. Core prices removes volatile data from the food and energy industry, giving a clearer picture on rising costs. The Labor Department shared that core prices rose 0.2% in November, down from 0.3% in october.
When it comes to things like food and services, some items are rising quicker than others, while some are falling.
When it comes to what you’re paying more for at the grocery store, eggs have been a major victim of rising prices, jumping in price by 2.3% from October and 49% compared to last year, according to the consumer price index.
Among other grocery items to rise in price since October includes bread, spiking 2%, fresh fruit, increasing 0.8%, cereal, rising 0.5%, and fresh vegetables, costing 0.8% more. Altogether, food prices have risen by 10.6% compared to last year.
Shelter costs have also played a massive part in core inflation increases, and last month prices rose 0.6%. Over the past year that rate has jumped 7.1%, the fastest such increase since 1982.
In the realm of energy, gas prices dropped by 3.6% in November, but gas prices still sat 10.1% higher than they were a year ago. Currently AAA says the national average is sitting at $3.24 per gallon.
Another commodity to drop in price include new cars, which fell by 0.1% from November to October, and used cars, dropping by 2.8% during the same period. Compared to a year ago, new cars are still 7.1% higher than one year ago, while used car prices are 3.3% lower.
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