Inflation up 6.4% from last year, rising for the first time in months, Labor Department

The Consumer Price Index in January increased by 6.4% compared to the same time last year, in what was the highest inflation numbers since October 2022, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The report, the county's most relied-upon gauge for inflation, also showed the price of goods increased 0.5% from December to January – the  highest monthly increase since October.

The CPI, which measures inflation by tracking the change over time in the prices consumers pay for goods, was at 6.5% in December, compared to the same time a year earlier. Prices for all items rose 0.1% from November to December. 

Even with the higher monthly increase, inflation is still below the four-decade high of 9.1% in June.

The Federal Reserve has been trying for several months, through a series of interest-rate increases, to slow inflation, while not sending the U.S. economy into a recession.