Recently, progress on inflation appeared to be stuck or, at worst, reversing: A closely watched gauge of underlying price hikes — an index that excludes highly volatile categories — hadn’t budged for months.

The consumer price index, the cost shoppers pay for a wide range of goods and services, rose faster than expected in December but core items did not make the same jump, according to the latest report

Consumer price growth ticked up in December, a sign President-elect Donald Trump will inherit the inflation issues that dogged the Biden administration as he re-takes the White House next week.

While the overall consumer price index rose, the core measure that omits food and energy costs was below estimates.

Consumer inflation increased 2.9% in 2024, which is above the Federal Reserve's goal of 2%, but wages overall more than kept up with higher prices.

The increase in the consumer price index for the 25-county region that includes Long Island was fueled in part by the cost of natural gas, electricity and housing.

The Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% in December, compared to the previous month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. VIP access to exclusive Just the News newsmaker events hosted by John Solomon and his team.

On Wednesday, it got unstuck. The closely watched core measurement of the Consumer Price Index slowed for the first time in months, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Wednesday.

The Consumer Price Index rose 2.9 percent from a year earlier, but a measure of underlying inflation was more encouraging.

Entering 2025, models from forecasting companies like Trading Economics anticipate inflation rates between 2.4% and 2.9% between the end of 2024 and the start of 2026. Unfortunately, actually predicting inflation can be difficult, as rates can be affected by a variety of factors, including political climates and supply-chain interruptions.

The USDA projected that New York’s average egg price would stay high at $4.80 in the early part of the year, but gradually decrease to $2.35 per dozen by the end of 2025, up from an earlier forecast of $2.10 per dozen, CNBC reported.