United States Inflation Rate

The annual inflation rate in the US fell for a third straight month to 3% in June 2024, the lowest since June 2023, compared to 3.3% in May and below forecasts of 3.1%. Energy costs rose at a slower pace (1% vs 3.7%), due to gasoline (-2.5% vs 2.2%) and fuel oil (0.8% vs 3.6%) while utility gas service (3.7% vs 0.2%) accelerated. Inflation also eased for shelter (5.2% vs 5.4%) and transportation (9.4% vs 10.5%) and steadied for apparel (0.8%). In addition, prices continued to decline for new vehicles (-0.9% vs -0.8%) and used cars and trucks (-10.1% vs -9.3%). On the other hand, food inflation edged up (2.2% vs 2.1%). Compared to May, the CPI unexpectedly declined 0.1%, the first fall since May 2020, following a flat reading and compared to expectations of a 0.1% rise. Meanwhile, annual core inflation also slowed to 3.3%, a fresh low since April 2021, from 3.4% in May and forecasts it would remain steady. The monthly rate edged down to 0.1% from 0.2%, below expectations of 0.2%.