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A cashier rings up groceries in Dallas, Tex.Lm Otero/The Associated Press
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge ticked up in November in the latest sign that prices remain stubbornly elevated.
Consumer prices rose 2.8 per cent in November from a year earlier, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from a 2.7-per-cent annual pace in October. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices also increased 2.8 per cent in November from a year ago, slightly higher than October’s 2.7 per cent.
Inflation has fallen sharply from a four-decade high in 2022 but has mostly leveled off in the past two years.
Still, on a monthly basis prices were milder: Both overall inflation and core inflation moved up just 0.2 per cent in November from October. At that pace, over time inflation would move closer to the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 per cent. Thursday’s data was delayed by the six-week government shutdown last fall.
Also on Thursday, the government said that the economy expanded at a healthy 4.4-per-cent annual rate in the July-September quarter, the fastest growth in two years.
