Consumer prices rise 0.5% in July: statistics show

8/11/2021- 9:25 a.m.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that consumer prices rose 0.5% last month, slowing from June’s 0.9% increase. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting a 0.5% gain. 

Used-car prices rose 0.2% in July, far less than the 10.5% spike in June. In the last report, the component accounted for more than one-third of the increase. 

Prices rose 5.4% year over year, matching June’s gain as the fastest since August 2008. 

U.S. consumer price gains moderated in July as used-car price gains eased.  

The annual data has a “base effects” skew due to the decline in prices that occurred at the start of the pandemic.

CPI for all items rises 0.5% in July; shelter, energy, food, new vehicle indexes rise. In July, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis; rising 5.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted.