Recently, progress on inflation appeared to be stuck or, at worst, reversing: A closely watched gauge of underlying price hikes — an index that excludes highly volatile categories — hadn’t budged for months.

While the overall consumer price index rose, the core measure that omits food and energy costs was below estimates.

Consumer price growth ticked up in December, a sign President-elect Donald Trump will inherit the inflation issues that dogged the Biden administration as he re-takes the White House next week.

Consumer inflation increased 2.9% in 2024, which is above the Federal Reserve's goal of 2%, but wages overall more than kept up with higher prices.

The increase in the consumer price index for the 25-county region that includes Long Island was fueled in part by the cost of natural gas, electricity and housing.

The Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% in December, compared to the previous month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. VIP access to exclusive Just the News newsmaker events hosted by John Solomon and his team.

The annual inflation rate for housing and household services was 6.0% in December 2024, up from 5.8% in November. This compares with a recent peak of 11.8% observed in January and February 2023. On a monthly basis, prices rose by 0.4% in December 2024, compared with a rise of 0.3% a year ago.

Inflation, as measured by the producer price index, rose three-tenths of a percentage point to 3.3% for the year ending in December, hinting that the economy may not yet have vanquished price pressures.

US consumer inflation rose for a third straight month in December as energy prices jumped but a widely watched measure eased slightly, raising hopes that underlying inflation may be moderating.

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), a key short-term inflation gauge, registered a week-on-week decline of 0.39% for the week ended January 16, 2025, however, on a year-on-year basis, the reading went up 1.16%.

The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq rose Friday on the last trading day of Joe Biden's presidency as the stock market braces for change under Donald Trump.