If your winter coat cost more than it did last year, the government's newest inflation report backs you up. On January 13, 2026, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Consumer Price Index for December 2025, showing the apparel index rose 0.6 percent for the month — double the 0.3 percent rise in overall consumer prices. Headline inflation ran 2.7 percent for the 12 months ending in December, and clothing has been creeping faster than that in recent months.
What does a 0.6 percent monthly jump mean for your budget?
Monthly moves sound small, but they compound. A 0.6 percent rise in one month works out to roughly 7 percent if repeated at an annual pace, and apparel rarely moves in a straight line — it jumps with new seasonal assortments and tariff pass-through, then dips during clearance windows. For you, that means the $80 sweater category has quietly become an $85 sweater category over the past year, before any sale discount is applied.
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Where are shoppers most likely to feel the increase?
The CPI tracks a broad basket, so the average hides the extremes. Historically, the sharpest increases show up in categories with heavy import exposure and thin margins: basics like socks and underwear, children's clothing, and footwear. Categories with domestic production or long inventory cycles — think outerwear bought off-season — move more slowly.
- Check last year's receipts before replacing basics; the same multipack often costs more now.
- Compare unit prices on multipacks — package counts frequently shrink as prices hold steady.
- Time big purchases to known clearance windows: late January for winter, late July for summer.
Does this mean sales will disappear?
No — markdowns remain a fixture of the apparel business, and this report actually strengthens the case for buying on the discount calendar rather than at full price. Retailers still need to clear seasonal inventory, and liquidation-driven closings across the industry push additional discounted stock into the market. The practical change is the baseline: the 'original' price you calculate a discount against is now higher than it was a year ago, so a 40 percent-off sticker may land near where 30 percent off did last winter.
The bottom line from the January 13 release: apparel prices rose 0.6 percent in December, faster than the overall 0.3 percent monthly increase, so the price you pay between sales is quietly drifting upward.