core inflation

noun

economics

: a measure of inflation that excludes items having volatile prices (such as fuel and food) from the price index being used

The Federal Reserve's past emphasis on core inflation, which strips food and energy from the price indexes in order to gauge the underlying trend of prices, has always confused both Wall Street and Main Street.

—James C. Cooper

compare headline inflation

Examples of core inflation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Well, core inflation doesn’t take energy, for example, into account or food into account. — NBC news, 18 Oct. 2026

Increases in shelter and used car costs also pushed up the core inflation figure, experts noted. — Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026

Annual core inflation was last below that level before the spike in inflation that began in 2021. — Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2026

Odds for a hike rose above 90% after core inflation data released Friday was slightly hotter than expected. — Matt Stiles, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for core inflation

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration