U.S. consumer price inflation reached 2.7% on an annual basis in November, up from 2.6% in October as shelter expenses including rents remained a significant factor in elevated costs despite overall easing of inflation.

The latest Labor Department numbers released Wednesday showed shelter costs increased 4.7% on an annual basis, as that category rose 0.3% from October. The government said shelter costs accounted for nearly 40% of all cost hikes on a month-over-month basis.

Figures for other categories in the consumer price index underscored continued easing in several categories compared with inflation levels that peaked in mid-2022, when the overall annual rate topped 9%. The latest numbers showed food costs rising 0.4% on a monthly basis and 2.4% on an annual basis, while energy costs increased 0.2% for the month while falling 3.2% for the year.

Within the energy category, gasoline prices rose 0.6% for the month but declined 8.1% from a year earlier. Other categories trending down for the year included fuel and new and used vehicles.

Aside from higher costs for shelter, lodging and airfares, analysts at Oxford Economics said the trend of the past few months toward lower inflation still “has room to run.” The labor market is balanced, and nominal wage growth is running consistent with the Federal Reserve’s inflation target of 2%, the research firm said in a statement Wednesday.

Similar to other analysts, Oxford Economics is standing by its prediction that the Fed will cut its key lending rate by a quarter-percent at its Dec. 17-18 meeting, then leave rates unchanged in January. 

Office attendance staged a post-Thanksgiving comeback, with 10 large U.S. cities averaging 50.6% of pre-pandemic levels for the week ended Dec. 4 in Kastle Systems’ latest tracking.

That was up a full 10 percentage points from the 40.6% figure for the week ended Nov. 27 ahead of the holiday weekend. It also returned closer to the 50% figure around which the average has hovered for most of the past year in the security technology firm’s reporting.

The 10-city average peaked at 53% in the week ended Jan. 31, a figure matched in the week ended Nov. 20 before the pre-holiday fall-off in the following week, according to Kastle data.

Based on anonymous keycard data from Kastle’s office property clients, Texas cities continued to lead for attendance in the latest report, with Austin at 61.3%, Houston at 60.3% and Dallas at 59%. Next came Chicago at 52.5%, New York at 52.4% and Washington, D.C., at 47.4%. 

Import cargo shipments at U.S. ports are trending well above year-earlier levels as companies brace for the possible effects of pending trade tariff hikes and a renewed dockworker strike, with implications for industrial real estate demand.

Analysts at the National Retail Federation and consulting firm Hackett Associates said the nation’s major container ports could see a surge in imports through spring 2025, as retailers and other companies look to minimize the impact of cost hikes and disruptions created by these pending events.

Talks have broken down between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which operates 18 Gulf and East Coast ports that would be affected by a rekindled strike if a new contract for more than 45,000 workers is not reached by Jan. 15. An October strike lasted three days before being suspended, as the two sides agreed to extend talks for another three months.

“Prospects of reaching a quick agreement on the key sticking point of automation are not looking good,” Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett said in a statement regarding the labor talks. He said retailers are also under pressure to front-load cargo shipments ahead of tariff increases that President-elect Donald Trump plans to implement when he takes office Jan. 20.

U.S. ports have not reported November numbers, but the NRF and Hackett’s firm are projecting cargo volume will be 14.4% higher than a year earlier. Their forecast calls for a 14.3% annual increase for December, which would bring full-year 2024 cargo volume to 14.8% above the 2023 level. January 2025 volume is expected to rise 12% from a year earlier.