数据点评 | 通胀，风险暂时可控——2025年12月美国CPI数据点评（申万宏观·赵伟团队）

Overview - The overall CPI for December in the US met expectations, while the core CPI was slightly weaker than anticipated, primarily due to weak performance in the goods sector. The December CPI year-on-year was 2.7% and month-on-month was 0.3%, aligning with market expectations. However, the core CPI year-on-year was 2.6%, slightly below the expected 2.7%, and month-on-month was 0.2%, compared to the expected 0.3% [1][5][43]. Structure - Vehicle inflation significantly weakened, with new and used car prices showing month-on-month changes of 0% and -1.1%, respectively, which had a considerable negative impact. In contrast, clothing, furniture, and toy prices, which are sensitive to tariffs, showed some month-on-month improvement, indicating that tariff transmission may still have room to operate. Statistical biases, such as double-month samples and holiday effects, may have influenced inflation but to a lesser extent than market expectations [2][18][44]. - Core service inflation in December saw an uptick, particularly in rent and super core services. The rent CPI increased by 0.4% month-on-month in December, up from 0.2% in September, although future rent inflation is expected to return to a cooling trend. Non-rent services, including medical and transportation services, also experienced inflation increases, with airfares rising to 5.2%, reflecting robust consumer demand in the US [24][44]. Outlook - In the first half of 2026, US inflation may still exhibit "stickiness," but a transition to a "disinflation" phase is anticipated in the second half. The implementation of tax cuts in early 2026 is expected to gradually boost household income, consumption, and inflation, thereby enhancing the final mile of tariff transmission. However, as the impact of tax cuts diminishes in the latter half of 2026 and the first-year tariff transmission concludes, inflation is projected to begin a sustained decline [29][34][45]. - The Federal Reserve's response function indicates that inflation is not currently the primary concern, and the pace of interest rate cuts may be "delayed." The Fed is expected to adopt a "data-dependent" approach in 2026, with potential rate cuts contingent on economic data showing significant weakness. The impact of the "Inflation Reduction Act" tax cuts on the economy and inflation will likely influence the timing of any rate cuts [34][45].