CPI rose at an annual rate of 2.4% in January, cooler than expected

CBS News · Jon Cherry / Getty Images

Mary Cunningham

Fri, February 13, 2026 at 11:01 PM GMT+9 2 min read

The Consumer Price Index rose 2.4% in January from a year earlier, coming in below forecasts and signaling some cooling in price pressures.

By the numbers

The CPI was expected to rise 2.5% on an annual basis last month, according to economists polled by financial data firm FactSet. The January CPI represents the slowest pace of inflation since May 2025 and is down from December’s 2.7% annual rate.

Food and shelter costs climbed at a faster pace than the overall January CPI rate, but were partially offset by a dip in energy prices, which fell 1.5% in January, the Labor Department said Friday.

So-called core inflation, or CPI data that excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose by 2.5% over the past 12 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

The CPI tracks the changes in a basket of goods and services typically bought by consumers, such as food and apparel.

The January inflation reading was delayed due to the partial government shutdown that ended earlier this month.

Cost-of-living pressures

Easing price pressures could provide some relief to many consumers, who report feeling weighed down by the rising cost of living.

Recent CBS News polling shows Americans at the lower end of the income spectrum feel strapped by essential costs such as utilities. Yet people with money invested in the stock market, which has increased 12% over the last year, tend to have a more favorable view of their finances.

Consumers’ perception of inflation is more likely to be influenced by the prices they encounter on store shelves or their monthly bills, which are distinct from the rate of change in prices that the CPI measures.

“I think that it’s going to take, unfortunately, a number of years for wages to continue to grow and outpace inflation to the point where people feel again like they have the breathing room that they remember from a few years ago,” said Stephen Kates, a financial analyst for Bankrate, before Friday’s CPI release.

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