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1 1 (December 21, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govefap0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional SResearch Service informing the Iegisltive debate since 19 4___________________ Breaking Down the U.S. Inflation Rate December 21, 2021 Focus on rising consumer prices has increased amid the latest data release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that the inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), was 6.8% over the 12 months ending November 2021, the largest 12-month increase in 39 years. Inflation is generally defined as an increase in prices across the economy broadly. However, not all prices used to calculate the inflation rate increase by the same amount, and inflation rates can differ across geographic locations. This Insight examines the inflation rate across various product categories and geographic areas. Inflation Across Selected Expenditure Categories Table 1 below shows a breakdown of inflation across certain expenditure categories. Core inflation (inflation that does not include energy and food prices) was lower than overall inflation, at 4.9% over the 12 months ending in November 2021. The increase in energy prices, historically a volatile source of inflation, was significantly higher over the same period (33.3%). Commodities (goods) inflation (11.9%) outstripped services inflation (3.8%) in the 12 months ending in November 2021. Supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks, which have plagued the economy throughout the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, tend to affect goods more than services, as goods are traded at a much higher rate than services. Within goods, used cars and trucks, a category which has seen particularly high inflation for several months, saw inflation of 31.4% over the past year. New vehicles also had relatively high inflation, although considerably less than used cars and trucks, at 11.1%. Table I. I 2-Month Percentage Change, Consumer Price Index forAll Urban Consumers (CPI-U), Selected Expenditure Categories, November 2021 Relative Importance October Expenditure Category 2021, as a Percentage 12-month Percentage Change All items 100.000% 6.8% Food 13.995% 6.1% Food at home 7.733% 6.4% Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11832 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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