This story about the May 2026 CPI inflation report is developing and will be updated with more details.
Inflation ticked higher in May as American consumers continued to face elevated fuel prices amid the Iran war’s impact on the energy market and across the economy.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said on Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI) – a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost – rose 0.5% from a month ago and is 4.2% higher than a year ago. The annual figure is the highest since April 2023.
Expectations vs. reality
Both the 0.5% monthly increase and the 4.2% rise from a year ago were in line with the expectations of economists polled by LSEG.
So-called core prices, which exclude volatile measurements of gasoline and food to better assess price growth trends, were up 0.2% on a monthly basis and 2.9% from a year ago. The monthly figure was slightly cooler than the expected rise of 0.3%, while the annual core figure was in line with economists’ predictions.
INFLATION IS SQUEEZING AMERICAN CONSUMERS AND THE FED’S LATEST REPORT SHOWS IT’S GETTING WORSE
