Finance & Markets
US core inflation
How far is the Fed from the one number that governs its decisions?
2.79% year on year
Core strips out food and energy, which is exactly why it matters for rate decisions and exactly why it feels wrong to anyone who buys groceries and fills a tank. Both things are true. The exclusion is not a claim that those prices do not count; it is an attempt to see the trend underneath the part that swings on weather and war.
For a site that spends most of its time on oil and conflict, this is the honest counterweight: the number the Fed is actually steering by does not contain the commodity shock directly, only its slow bleed into everything else.
How this is measured
Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, all items less food and energy, seasonally adjusted, published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We compute the change against the same month a year earlier from the published index level — the standard year-on-year calculation, shown here so it can be reproduced.
All observations
| Date | % year on year |
|---|---|
| 1 Jul 2026 | 2.79 |
| 1 Jun 2026 | 2.81 |
| 1 May 2026 | 2.96 |
| 1 Apr 2026 | 2.99 |
| 1 Mar 2026 | 2.67 |
| 1 Feb 2026 | 2.73 |
| 1 Jan 2026 | 2.95 |
| 1 Dec 2025 | 2.84 |
| 1 Nov 2025 | 2.89 |
| 1 Sept 2025 | 3.02 |
| 1 Aug 2025 | 3.11 |
| 1 Jul 2025 | 3.05 |
| 1 Jun 2025 | 2.91 |
| 1 May 2025 | 2.77 |
| 1 Apr 2025 | 2.78 |
| 1 Mar 2025 | 2.81 |
| 1 Feb 2025 | 3.14 |
| 1 Jan 2025 | 3.28 |
| 1 Dec 2024 | 3.21 |
| 1 Nov 2024 | 3.29 |
| 1 Oct 2024 | 3.3 |
| 1 Sept 2024 | 3.28 |
| 1 Aug 2024 | 3.29 |
| 1 Jul 2024 | 3.23 |
| 1 Jun 2024 | 3.27 |
| 1 May 2024 | 3.39 |
| 1 Apr 2024 | 3.63 |
| 1 Mar 2024 | 3.82 |
| 1 Feb 2024 | 3.76 |
| 1 Jan 2024 | 3.86 |
| 1 Dec 2023 | 3.92 |
| 1 Nov 2023 | 4.02 |
| 1 Oct 2023 | 4.03 |
| 1 Sept 2023 | 4.13 |
| 1 Aug 2023 | 4.4 |
| 1 Jul 2023 | 4.7 |
| 1 Jun 2023 | 4.85 |
| 1 May 2023 | 5.34 |
| 1 Apr 2023 | 5.51 |
| 1 Mar 2023 | 5.57 |
| 1 Feb 2023 | 5.5 |
| 1 Jan 2023 | 5.54 |
| 1 Dec 2022 | 5.69 |
| 1 Nov 2022 | 5.97 |
| 1 Oct 2022 | 6.29 |
| 1 Sept 2022 | 6.62 |
| 1 Aug 2022 | 6.29 |
| 1 Jul 2022 | 5.9 |
| 1 Jun 2022 | 5.91 |
| 1 May 2022 | 6.03 |
| 1 Apr 2022 | 6.16 |
| 1 Mar 2022 | 6.48 |
| 1 Feb 2022 | 6.46 |
| 1 Jan 2022 | 6.05 |
| 1 Dec 2021 | 5.49 |
| 1 Nov 2021 | 4.97 |
| 1 Oct 2021 | 4.59 |
| 1 Sept 2021 | 4 |
| 1 Aug 2021 | 3.94 |
| 1 Jul 2021 | 4.21 |