May inflation breakdown: Where are prices rising the fastest?
Jack Otter and ‘Barron’s Roundtable’ senior writer Nicholas Jasinski discuss how rate cuts are looking unlikely for 2024.
Inflation loosened its stranglehold on the U.S. economy in May, but a spike in the cost of rent kept prices painfully high for millions of Americans.
The Labor Department said Wednesday that the consumer price index, a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost, was unchanged in May from the previous month. Prices climbed 3.3% from the same time last year. Both of those figures are lower than the 0.1% monthly increase and 3.4% headline gain forecast by LSEG economists.
«Finally, some positive surprises as both headline and core inflation beat forecasts,» said Robert Frick, corporate economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union. «There was relief at the pump, but unfortunately, home and apartment costs continue to rise and remain the main cause of inflation. Until those shelter costs begin their long-awaited fall, we won’t see major drops in CPI.»
Here is a breakdown of where Americans are seeing prices rising and falling the fastest as they continue to wrestle with sticker shock.
INFLATION RISES 3.3% IN MAY, LESS THAN EXPECTED
Housing costs were once again the biggest driver of inflation last month, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total monthly increase, according to the report.
A sign advertising a home for sale is displayed outside of a Manhattan building on April 11, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Rent costs rose 0.4% for the month and are up 5.3% from the same time last year. Rising rents are concerning because higher housing costs most directly and acutely affect household budgets.
Another data point
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