Highlights:

1. Consumer prices rose 1.3% in the 12 months to December 2009, following a 1.0% increase in November. On an unadjusted monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.3% from November to December, after increasing 0.5% from October to November.

All-items Consumer Price Index (CPI):

1. The rise in the all-items CPI was due mostly to gasoline prices. Consumers paid 25.6% more at the pump in December than they did a year earlier, compared with a 14.1% increase in November.
2. Energy prices rose 5.9% between December 2008 and December 2009, after rising 1.3% in November.
3. All major components in the CPI, except shelter and clothing and footwear, recorded increases in December.
4. Upward pressure on the 12-month change came primarily from higher prices for transportation (+4.7%), food (+1.7), and household operations, furnishings and equipment (+1.9%).

Main contributors to the 12-month change in the CPI:

Main upward contributors:

1. Gasoline (+25.6%)
2. Passenger vehicle insurance premiums (+7.8%)
3. Food purchased from restaurants (+2.9%)
4. Property taxes (+4.3%)
5. Education (+4.4%)

Main downward contributors:

1. Natural gas (-31.2%)
2. Mortgage interest cost (-4.9%)
3. Purchase of passenger vehicles (-3.3%)
4. Air transportation (-12.0%)
5. Video equipment (-17.9%)

Main contributors to the monthly change in the CPI, not seasonally adjusted:

Main upward contributors:

1. Purchase of passenger vehicles (+2.0%)
2. Fresh vegetables (+5.7%)
3. Air transportation (+2.0%)
4. Bakery products (+1.2%)
5. Homeowners' replacement cost (+0.4%)

Main downward contributors:

1. Gasoline (-2.9%)
2. Women’s clothing (-6.6%)
3. Furniture (-5.0%)
4. Men's clothing (-5.2%)
5. Video equipment (-11.0%)