Price: USA: inflation rises in December to 2.9% year-on-year

Inflation accelerated again in December in the United States, for the third month in a row, according to the CPI index published on Wednesday, showing that the country is moving further away from the target set by the American central bank ( Fed).

From December 2023 to December 2024, consumer prices increased by 2.9%, compared to 2.7% in November, according to the index published by the Department of Labor, and on which pensions are indexed.

The Fed favors another measure, the PCE index, published at the end of the month, which has also recently increased (at +2.4% in November). The Fed’s goal is to bring it down to 2%.

Analysts expected this CPI increase of 2.9% over one year, according to the consensus published by MarketWatch.

But they also expected a smaller increase from one month to the next: +0.3%. The index ultimately increased by 0.4% between November and December, driven by the increase in the prices of housing, plane tickets, used vehicles and even car insurance, according to the press release.

Above Fed target

So-called core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, however, slowed to 3.2% year-on-year.

“This decline in underlying inflation is a relief, even if it remains well above the Fed’s 2% target,” noted Jochen Stanzl, analyst at CMC Markets in a note.

He adds that this publication reassures the markets in the idea that the Fed will not multiply rate cuts in 2025, “especially because the state of the job market does not raise concerns”.

The Fed had systematically lowered rates during its last three meetings, for a total of one percentage point.

But with inflation rebounding, or ceasing to calm down, financial players anticipate that this cycle of decline will be put on hold, to avoid overheating of the economy.