The consumer-price index climbed 0.3% in December from the prior month and increased 3.4% from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday. That compares with November’s 0.1% monthly gain and marks an acceleration from that month’s 3.1% annual increase.

Core prices, which strip out volatile food and energy items, rose 0.3% in December from the prior month—the same monthly increase as November and slightly faster than would be consistent with the Federal Reserve’s long-term inflation target of 2%. Core prices increased 3.9% from a year earlier, a modest slowing from November’s 4% annual increase. Thursday’s report isn’t likely to change the Fed’s near-term policy outlook.

[It’s likely to put off the rate cut that the White House wants. Jerome Powell and the Fed board had signaled a rate cut sometime in early 2024, but they can’t afford to do that while inflation keeps ticking up. There has been some commentary about success at cutting inflation in this report, but all it shows is that the rate of inflation has slowed. It’s still going up, and now it’s going up faster than it has been. — Ed]