The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.4% on a year-over-year basis in December, following a 3.1% increase in November. While gasoline prices fell monthly for the fourth month in a row, the headline acceleration was largely the result of higher year-over-year prices for gasoline in December (+1.4%) compared with November (-7.7%). This was the result of a base-year effect where gasoline prices fell more monthly in December 2022 than they did in December 2023. Excluding gasoline, the headline CPI slowed year over year, from 3.6% in November to 3.5% in December.
Additional acceleration came from airfares, fuel oil, passenger vehicles and rent. Prices for food purchased from stores rose 4.7% year over year in December, matching the increase in November (+4.7%). Moderating the acceleration in the all-items CPI were lower prices for travel tours.
Every month, the CPI fell 0.3% in December, after a 0.1% gain in November. Lower month-over-month price movements for travel tours (-18.2%) and gasoline (-4.4%) contributed to the monthly decline. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.3% in December.