This morning’s Bureau of Labor Statistics release on U.S. inflation — the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January 2026 — has been greeted with celebratory headlines. Politicians and pundits alike are touting the modest slowdown in headline inflation as proof that “prices are finally coming down.” But that’s not what the data actually show. According to the official CPI report from the BLS, the overall CPI rose 2.4% over the past 12 months , after rising 2.7% in the year ending December. That is a deceleration. But it is not a decline in prices. Prices still rose everywhere consumers spend — on food, rent, medical care, and services — and in many cases remained stubbornly high (especially food, which rose nearly 3% YOY). ( Bureau of Labor Statistics ) Slowdown ≠ Relief at the Store A common mistake in popular commentary is conflating “inflation slowed” with “inflation fell.” But inflation slows when the pace of price increases decelerates — it does not mean that prices actually dr...
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