Consumer prices, May 2011 to May 2012

Over the last 12 months, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 1.7 percent before seasonal adjustment.

[Chart data]

The rate of increase in the all items index has slowed steadily since its recent peak of 3.9 percent in September 2011, driven mostly by the energy index, which decreased 3.9 percent from May 2011 to May 2012. May marked the first 12-month decline in the energy index since October 2009.

The 12-month increase in the food index, which was 4.7 percent as recently as December, was 2.8 percent in May. The 12-month change in the index for all items less food and energy was an increase of 2.3 percent in May, the same figure as in April and March. The shelter component also rose 2.3 percent over the past 12 months.

Indexes rising at a slower rate than the index for all items less food and energy include household furnishings and operations (0.6 percent), recreation (0.9 percent), and new vehicles (1.3 percent). Indexes rising more rapidly include apparel (4.4 percent), medical care services (3.9 percent), and used cars and trucks (3.5 percent).

These data are from the BLS Consumer Price Index program. To learn more, see "Consumer Price Index — May 2012" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-12-1183.