See Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average from FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) compiled by the Research Division at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis for data on the seasonally adjusted CPI.
That site shows a graph but if you click on the Download button you will get the actual numbers in Microsoft Excel.
The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average (CPIAUCSL) was 311.054 in Feb. and 312.230 in March. Since 312.230/311.054 = 1.0038, that means it was up 0.38% in Feb. If we had that every month for 12 months it would be up 4.63%.
It was 301.744 in March 2023. Since 312.230/301.744 = 1.035, that means it was up 3.5% over the last 12 months.
The non-seasonally adjusted CPI was 312.332 in March and 301.836 in March 2023. That was up 3.5%. So pretty close to the seasonally adjusted CPI. This is still above the Fed's target of 2.0% (although they prefer to use the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index which was 2.5% higher in Feb. 2024 than Feb. 2023).
For more information, see Consumer prices rose 3.5% from a year ago in March, more than expected by Jeff Cox of CNBC. Excerpts:
"The consumer price index accelerated at a faster-than-expected pace in March, pushing inflation higher and likely dashing hopes that the Federal Reserve will be able to cut interest rates anytime soon.
The CPI, a broad measure of goods and services costs across the economy, rose 0.4% for the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 3.5%, or 0.3 percentage point higher than in February, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a 0.3% gain and a 3.4% year-over-year level.
Excluding volatile food and energy components, the core CPI also accelerated 0.4% on a monthly basis while rising 3.8% from a year ago, compared with respective estimates for 0.3% and 3.7%"
The article also discusses what is going up and what is going on. There is a graph of the monthly year-over-year percent change in prices and core prices going back almost 3 years.
Other related links:
Consumer Price Index Data from 1913 to 2023
Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index
The Bureau of Labor Statistics makes seasonal adjustments. See Consumer Price Index Summary.
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