by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
Inflation has been going in the wrong direction relentlessly month-to-month since June.
Inflation dished out another bad surprise with a big increase in January from December, which wasn’t a surprise because inflation, once it gets going, is known to do that. This time, the hot spots were durable goods, fueled by the continued massive month-to-month increases in used vehicle prices, and non-housing services, such as auto insurance, admissions, subscriptions, etc. Food and energy prices also jumped in January. Rent inflation accelerated. But at least the CPI for apparel and shoes dropped in January.