The long shadow of the pandemic-induced shock continues to hang on the economy. The tone and tenor of the data continue to imply that the central bank and the fiscal authority have enormous space to sustain accommodative monetary policy and address the intensification of the pandemic in the near term, not to mention addressing the modernization of the ... READ MORE >
Consumer Price Index
Consumer Price Index: Modest increase in prices, inflation expectations well anchored
Strong demand for transportation and energy, which increased by 1.3% and 0.9% in August, were the primary catalysts for the 0.4% increase in the Consumer Price Index. The all-important core CPI excluding food and energy rose by a similar amount. On a year-ago basis, prices climbed a muted 1.3% and are up 1.7% in the core metric, according to data ... READ MORE >
June Consumer Price Index: Inflation not a risk to near-term economic outlook
Rising energy and gasoline prices accounted for roughly half of the 0.6% increase month over month inside the June Consumer Price Index report and should prove transient due to easing demand on the back of an intensifying pandemic. That increase, for the most part, is the recovery in oil and gasoline prices following the pandemic-induced collapse in ... READ MORE >
April U.S. Consumer Price Index: Another whiff of pandemic-caused deflation
This is what demand destruction looks like. The 0.8% decline in the Consumer Price Index in April, announced on Tuesday, should serve as a cautionary tale to those espousing dead dogma around risks to the outlook linked to inflation. The U.S. economy is absorbing a significant demand shock, and April’s decline in consumer prices is a preview of things to ... READ MORE >