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June 18, 2014 – A rise in electricity and gasoline prices in May contributed to an overall, seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent increase in consumer prices for the month, according to data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and analyzed by NAFCU's Doug Christman.

For the 12-month period, overall consumer price index growth was 2.1 percent, up from 2 percent in April.

Core prices – excluding food and energy costs – rose 0.3 percent in May month over month after a 0.2 percent increase in April. Year over year, core CPI grew 1.9 percent, compared to a 1.8 percent increase in April.

Energy prices increased by 0.9 percent in May following a 0.3 percent increase in April. From a year ago, energy prices were up 3.4 percent. Food prices increased 0.4 percent in May following an increase of 0.4 percent in April, and were up 2.4 percent on a year-over-year basis.

"Both CPI and Core CPI are moving closer to a historically normal pace and are expected to gradually increase throughout the year," Christman said in a NAFCU Macro Data Flash report.