Surging inflation has eased in recent months, but more evidence is needed to show that price increases are coming down in the long term, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday. (Photo by Yuki IWAMURA / AFP) (Photo by YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images)
Prices rose half a percent in January, according to the latest consumer price index. That is up from a 0.1 percent decline in December, and five times the 0.1 percent increase in November.
The monthly uptick was in line with expectation, though the year-over-year rate came in higher than expected 6.4 percent, a marginal drop from a 6.5 percent rate in December.
Shelter (i.e. housing) contributed the largest share to the monthly increase, rising 0.7 percent.
Energy costs were also up across the board. The price of piped gas shot up 6.7 percent, while energy overall was up 2 percent after two straight months of declines.
Food prices, meanwhile, were up 0.5 percent. That is up from 0.4 percent in December, but still low relative to the last six months.
Used car prices also continued their steady decline, dropping 1.7 percent month-over-month and 11.6 percent year-over-year.
Despite the month-over-month drop, the annual rate has slowed for seven straight months.
Multiple activist investors have taken stakes in Salesforce, according to reports from several outlets, spurring speculation that the tech firm could soon face additional pressure to increase margins and trim payrolls.
Andrew Collins, the CEO of private aviation firm Sentient Jet, joined Cheddar News anchor Hena Doba on a Walk & Talk discussing the future of business and leisure travel.
Stocks closed higher on Wall Street as investors grow more convinced the Federal Reserve will keep downshifting the size of its rate hikes and as several major companies prepare to report their latest results.
The number of businesses that see a 50 percent chance or higher of a recession in 2022 has fallen from around two-thirds of respondents in October to just over half this month, according to survey.
