U.S. Inflation Slows to 3.1% in November! This is What Traders Need to Know

<p>&nbsp;Consumer prices still recorded readings in line with expectations in November when a drop in energy prices managed to push headline inflation down, based on the latest data from the Department of Statistics released a while ago.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which will be the last reading released in 2023, shows that prices rose slightly by 0.1% compared to last month and increased 3.1% compared to the previous year in November. This figure grew slightly slower than the 3.2% annual increase in October.</p><p><br /></p><p>Economists expect prices to remain unchanged month-on-month and increase 3.2% year-on-year, based on data from Bloomberg.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>As expected, lower energy costs drove a small increase with energy prices down 2.3% month-on-month, driven by lower gasoline prices, which fell 6.0% over November.</p><p><br /></p><p>At the basic "core" level, a calculation of inflation that does not take into account more volatile costs such as food and gasoline, core CPI in November rose 4.0% from last year in line with the annual increase seen in October. Monthly core prices rose 0.3%, slightly higher than the 0.2% monthly increase in October. Economists expect core inflation to be at that level.</p><p><br /></p><p>The US dollar index, which measures the US dollar against six other currencies, traded slightly firmer, although it was down 0.28% to trade at 103,440 after the CPI data was released.</p>