US CPI Surges by 6.4% in January, Raising Concerns of Aggressive Fed Action to Curb Inflation

The January Consumer Price Index, a highly monitored gauge of inflation that measures changes in the prices of daily goods and services, increased by 6.4% compared to the same period last year, surpassing expectations and causing concerns that the Federal Reserve may intensify its efforts to curb rising prices.
In January, prices rose by 0.5% on a monthly basis when compared to December. Nevertheless, the core inflation rate, which removes the impact of unstable food and energy costs, increased by 5.6% when compared to the same period last year. Moreover, both overall and core inflation had the least increase since the last quarter of 2021 when calculated on an annual basis.