Core CPI Inflation Latest: 2.8% Year-over-Year
Core CPI measures consumer price inflation after stripping out food and energy, the two most volatile categories in the basket. It is currently running at 2.8% year-over-year as of August 1, 2026, −0.0pp versus the previous reading.
Food and energy prices swing on weather, geopolitics and OPEC decisions, so they add noise that obscures the underlying trend. By removing them, core CPI gives a cleaner picture of the persistent inflation that monetary policy can actually influence. That is why the Federal Reserve leans on core measures when deciding whether to hike, hold or cut.
The flip side is that core CPI is stickier. Services inflation, which dominates core, is driven largely by wages and shelter costs — slow-moving variables that respond to policy with long lags. When headline inflation falls but core refuses to, it usually means the easy disinflation from normalising supply chains and energy prices is over, and the remaining work has to come from demand and the labour market.
For investors, core CPI is the print that most reliably moves the rate curve. We track core CPI alongside the headline index and the PCE measures on the RiskCurve dashboard.
It is 0.0pp lower than a month ago (Jul 01, 2026), and 0.3pp lower than a year ago (Aug 01, 2025).
It is below the 3.0% average of the period we track, which has run from 2.7% (Mar 01, 2026) to 3.1% (Aug 01, 2025) — the highest since Jul 01, 2026.
Core CPI (year-over-year) — recent values
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Aug 01, 2026 | 2.8% |
| Jul 01, 2026 | 2.8% |
| Jun 01, 2026 | 2.8% |
| May 01, 2026 | 3.0% |
| Apr 01, 2026 | 3.0% |
| Mar 01, 2026 | 2.7% |
| Feb 01, 2026 | 2.7% |
| Jan 01, 2026 | 2.9% |
| Dec 01, 2025 | 2.8% |
| Nov 01, 2025 | 2.9% |
Values as published by the source. Macro series are revised after first release; this table shows the most recent vintage. Saved dataset: JSON.