Inflation up 6.5% from last year, Labor Department says

The latest inflation numbers come after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in mid-December as part of ongoing attempts to lower inflation.

Grocery store checkout, stock photo

Getty Images

By Madeleine Hubbard

The Consumer Price Index in December increased by 6.5% compared to the same time 12 months earlier, the Labor Department announced Thursday.

The prices for all items fell 0.1% from November to December, the agency also reported.

The CPI is a measure of inflation that shows the average change in the prices that consumers pay for goods over time.

Inflation is currently below the four-decade high of 9.1% in June.

However, food prices remain high as the overall cost of food was 10.4% higher in December than it was a year earlier, according to the agency. Food costs also increased by 0.3% from November to December.

The latest inflation numbers come after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates in mid-December by half of a percentage point as part of the central bank's ongoing attempts to lower inflation.

The December CPI report is the final one before the Fed is scheduled to make a decision about interest rates on Feb. 1, according to CNBC.