U.S. consumer inflation in November increased 2.7 percent from a year ago, after climbing 2.4 percent in September and 2.6 percent in October, the U.S. Labor Department reported Wednesday.
According to the report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a broad measure of goods and services costs across the U.S. economy, increased 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in November after rising 0.2 percent in each of the previous four months.
The latest inflation report showed that the so-called core CPI, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.3 percent in November, as it did in each of the previous three months. The core CPI rose 3.3 percent over the last 12 months ending November, indicating continued inflation pressure.
In a speech in Washington, D.C., earlier this month, Christopher Waller, a Federal Reserve governor and a member of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, said that recent data have raised the possibility that progress on inflation "may be stalling at a level meaningfully above 2 percent," while noting that "this is a risk but not a certainty."
Despite warning of "stalling" progress, Waller said that based on the economic data in hand and forecasts that inflation will continue on its downward path to 2 percent over the medium term, he currently leans toward supporting a cut to the policy rate at the December meeting.
The Fed will hold its final monetary policy meeting of the year on Dec 17-18.
US CPI up 2.7 pct in November as inflation heats up
US CPI up 2.7 pct in November as inflation heats up
