Prices still higher in New York City area amid falling inflation
NEW YORK -- Inflation is finally slowing down.
The Consumer Price Index rose 6.5 percent in December, compared with the year prior. That's down from 7.1 percent in November.
CBS2's Alice Gainer explains what it means for your wallet.
"For the sixth month in a row, inflation has come down," said President Joe Biden.
In December, prices dropped slightly, 0.1 percent from November.
Mr. Biden said falling gas prices are a big reason for the decrease.
"Now gas is down more than a dollar seventy from its peak. That adds up to a typical family with two vehicles to a savings of $180 a month," said Mr. Biden.
In the New York-New Jersey area, energy prices fell 5 percent over the month, with gasoline prices dropping 9.5 percent and household energy prices decreasing 2 percent.
Overall consumer prices are down nationally, but they're up in our area.
"It was the second consecutive month that we've had a 0.2 percent increase in prices," said Bruce Bergman, a regional economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. "The last couple of months we've had kind of a pickup in rents, and we hadn't seen anything like that here locally in a while."
Experts said higher numbers in our area are not surprising.
"There are still some staples in our daily life that are still remaining high, and because we live in the Greater New York area they are going to stay high," said Carl Gould, president of 7 Stage Advisors.
Price hikes at the grocery store are slowing, but still way up.
"Grocery prices in the local area are still up 10.1 percent over the year, which is quite a bit larger than what we're used to," said Bergman.
"But the rate of increase is starting to decelerate in a big way and that should continue through the first half of this year," said CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger. "The Fed doesn't want to go too far, because it can really slow down growth and push us into a recession."
This was the last inflation report before the Federal Reserve meets to decide whether to increase interest rates again to further reduce inflation.
