CPI in June 2008

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) advanced 1.1 percent in June, following a 0.6-percent increase in May. The index for energy rose sharply for the second straight month, increasing 6.6 percent in June following a 4.4-percent increase in May.

[Chart data—TXT]

The increase in the energy index accounted for around two-thirds of the overall increase in the all items index in June. The index for petroleum-based energy advanced 10.0 percent and the index for energy services rose 1.5 percent.

The food index rose 0.8 percent in June after rising 0.3 percent in May. The index for food at home went up 1.0 percent in June, with indexes for four of the six major grocery store food groups sharply accelerating.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.3 percent in June, following a 0.1-percent rise in April and a 0.2-percent increase in May. Larger increases in the indexes for shelter and for tobacco and smoking products and an upturn in the apparel index contributed to the larger increase.

Consumer prices advanced at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 7.9 percent in the second quarter after increasing at a 3.1 percent rate in the first three months of 2008. This brings the year-to- date annual rate to 5.5 percent and compares with an increase of 4.1 percent in all of 2007.

For the 12 months ended in June 2008, the CPI-U rose 5.0 percent, as shown in the chart.

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Consumer Price Index: June 2008," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 08-0974.