December 15, 2007

The Department of Labor Releases November Inflation Information



The Department of Labor released the November Consumer Price Index yesterday. Overall the Consumer Price Index rose 0.8 percent, the largest rise since September 2005.

What is interesting to note is that with all the hype about corn prices and how ethanol production is pushing food prices higher, the food index rose by 0.3 percent, the same amount as all items less food and energy.

The food index rose 0.3 percent in November. The indexes for food at home and for food away from home each increased 0.3 percent. The index for all items less food and energy advanced 0.3 percent in November


Of coarse it is only one month in time but it is interesting how confusing this issue can be since some items that rely on corn for their production went up and some went down. Such as cereals, beef and dairy products went up while meats, poultry, fish and eggs went down. Meanwhile energy, the one thing that effects everything we buy went up quite a bit.

The index for energy advanced 5.7 percent and accounted for nearly 70 percent of the overall CPI increase in November. The index for petroleum-based energy rose 9.5 percent and the index for energy services, 0.7 percent.


Consumer Price Index Summary

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