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

Still, the Fed typically pays more attention to core prices, and how much higher energy costs feed through to core inflation in the coming months will be a major factor in how the central bank decides on its next moves. —Christopher Rugaber, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation also rose. —ABC News, 30 Apr. 2026

And 81% believe crude prices are likely to drive up core inflation as well, compounding the difficulty of cutting rates for the Fed. —Steve Liesman, CNBC, 28 Apr. 2026

And core inflation is coming down. —Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 14 Apr. 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