Inflation
US inflation is 3.7% in June 2026
Consumer prices were 3.7% higher than a year earlier — the most recent CPI print, published about two weeks after the month ends. Stripping out food and energy, core inflation is 2.8%. The fastest-rising category is airline fares at 27.0%; the weakest is medical goods at -2.0%.
What's driving inflation#
Percentage points of headline CPI, by categoryEach bar splits that month's headline inflation into percentage points contributed by each group — its share of household spending multiplied by its own price change. The dot marks the headline rate; "Other" is the small gap left by using a fixed annual weighting.
Every CPI category, month by month#
Year-over-year changeAbout this data#
CPI comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED and is published monthly, about two weeks after the month ends — so the headline rate above describes June 2026, not today. Category weights are BLS relative-importance figures, which BLS re-weights each January; that is why the contribution bars carry a small "Other" residual instead of being forced to add up exactly. Breakeven rates are daily and come from the gap between nominal Treasury yields and TIPS — they are what the bond market is pricing, not a forecast we make. Core PCE is the measure the Federal Reserve actually targets; it usually runs a few tenths below CPI because it accounts for people substituting between goods as prices change.
Related: Inflation calculator · Mortgage rates · Macro dashboard
FAQ
- What is the current US inflation rate?
- 3.7% — consumer prices in June 2026 were that much higher than a year earlier, measured by the Consumer Price Index. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is 2.8%.
- Why is core inflation different from headline inflation?
- Core inflation excludes food and energy, whose prices swing sharply for reasons unrelated to the broader economy — a cold snap or an oil shock. Economists watch core because it is a better guide to where inflation is heading; households experience headline, because they buy groceries and gasoline.
- What do breakeven inflation rates mean?
- The gap between a regular Treasury bond's yield and an inflation-protected one of the same maturity — what the bond market expects average inflation to be over that period. The 10-year breakeven is 2.27%. Unlike CPI it updates every trading day, which makes it the timeliest inflation signal available.
- Which category has the biggest effect on inflation?
- Shelter — rent and the equivalent cost of living in a home you own — is about 36% of the CPI, far more than any other category. Because it is measured with a long lag, changes in market rents take roughly a year to show up in official inflation.