The Bureau of Labor Statistics report on inflation that came out today shows that in November, the CPI (not inflation) rose by 0.1 percent in November. That means that in the 5 months from June to November, the CPI has risen by 0.0 percent (July) + 0.1 percent (August) + 0.4 percent (September) + 0.4 percent (October) + 0.1 percent (November) for a total of 1.0 percent. Although one should ideally compound these numbers, they are so low that compounding would make little difference. That means that the annualized rate of inflation for the last 5 months is approximately 2.4 percent.
Over those same months, the CPI minus food and energy (the core CPI) rose by 0.3 percent (July) + 0.6 percent (August) + 0.6 percent (September) + 0.3 percent (October) + 0.2 percent (November) for a total of 2.0 percent. Failure to compound is a little more serious here because of the large numbers in August and September, but still not a big mistake. That means that the annualized rate of core inflation for the last 5 months is approximately 4.8 percent.
I posted about the inflation rate in November after the October data had been released.
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