Fast-rising U.S. shelter costs — consisting of tenants’ rent and owners’ equivalent rent — were the top driver of inflation in 2022, but this may be a trend that has already shifted. Shelter costs account for nearly one-third of the value of the consumer price index (CPI), making them the largest component by far. New rents and home prices both softened in the second half of 2022, but because of the way shelter costs are measured, it could take nearly a year for those changes to be reflected in the CPI.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023 (data through Dec. 2022); The Wall Street Journal, December 6, 2022

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