TED: The Editor's Desk

August 15, 2008 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Consumer Price Index in July

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) advanced 0.8 percent in July 2008, following a 1.1-percent increase in June. The index for energy rose sharply for the third straight month, increasing 4.0 percent in July and accounting for about half of the overall increase in the all items index.

Percent change from 12 months ago, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, not seasonally adjusted, July 1999-July 2008
[Chart data—TXT]

The food index rose 0.9 percent in July after rising 0.8 percent in June. The index for food at home rose 1.2 percent in July after rising 1.0 percent in June. Indexes for five of the six major grocery store food groups rose at least 1.0 percent in July.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.3 percent in July, the second straight such increase. The indexes for apparel and for recreation increased more sharply than in June, but the indexes for shelter and medical care rose more slowly.

For the 12 months ended in July 2008, the CPI-U rose 5.6 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Consumer Price Index: July 2008," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 08-1144.

Of interest

Spotlight on Statistics: The Recession of 2007–2009

The most recent recession in the United States began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, though many of the statistics that describe the U.S. economy have yet to return to their pre-recession values. In this Spotlight, we present BLS data that compare the recent recession to previous recessions. Read more »