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A monthly explainer generated directly from Basket Index data. Republished by Basket Index, attributed to public BLS, FRED, and EIA sources.
As of Dec 2023 · Base 100 = Jan 2020
Generated from Dec 2023's observations.
As of December 2023, the Basket Index for a US family of 4 sits at 122.9 — meaning the cost of a standard household basket has risen 4.4% versus a year ago and is down 0.29% from the previous month.
Most of the move comes from rent of primary residence, electricity (residential), ground beef (100% beef) and chicken (whole, fresh). Together these items account for roughly 35% of the year-over-year basket cost change.
Offsetting the increases: eggs (grade a, large) (-41.0%), gasoline (regular unleaded) (-2.4%), milk (whole, fortified) (-4.8%) are cheaper than a year ago.
Inflation is rarely caused by one thing. Energy prices feed into food production and shipping; rent moves with housing supply and interest rates; and grocery prices respond to supply shocks, weather, and demand patterns. Basket Index does not claim causality — it tracks the prices households actually face, and lets you see which categories are pulling the basket up.
Year-over-year change for each item, ranked by contribution to the basket move.
Items down year-over-year, helping offset the rise.
One email a month. The Basket Index reading, biggest movers, one chart.