US inflation data shows record cell phone price jump, boosts core CPI

Your cell phone bill just became a macroeconomic event. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that wireless telephone service prices jumped 5.9% in August 2026, the largest single-month increase ever recorded for the category. That spike played an outsized role in pushing core CPI up 0.3% month-over-month. The overall Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in August on a seasonally adjusted basis and 3.4% year-over-year. Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy components, came in at 2.4% annually. Why your phone bill matters to the Fed Wireless services account for roughly 1.3% to 1.4% of the CPI basket. To understand why this number was so extreme, you need to rewind to July 2025. That’s when the BLS overhauled how it measures wireless costs, switching to comprehensive secondary data sourced directly from carriers and Mobile Virtual Network Operators, known as MVNOs. The agency also began applying hedonic regression models, a statistical technique that adjusts prices based on the quality of what consumers actually receive. The pattern since the methodology change tells the story clearly. In December 2025, wireless service prices fell 3.3%, the steepest decline since March 20...